Last Night On Earth
by spacemonkey69
Summary: [It’s the last night on Earth, before the great divide. My hands are shaking, time was never on our side] What if there was a chance you could lose the ones you love? What if you had to fight to survive? Please R&R COMPLETE
1. Prologue

Okay! Here is my new story guys! The first chapter is short, but that's how i wanted it, short and to the point! They will get longer,I promise! So, please read and review!

Oh, and the name of the story comes from a beautiful song, 'Last Night On Earth' by Delta Goodrem...Australians and the English will most likely know her...everyone else may not! But this song is gorgeous, so i urge you to somehow get your hands on it! Or at least the lyrics, for i am kind of basing the story on it...or will at least be referencing the lyrics! Enjoy!

I do not own Friends, Characters, actors etc etc, but i do own the entire collection of Friends DVDs!

* * *

There had been no warning.

No sign.

No signal.

No warning.

Would things have been different if there had have been?

If they had been prepared?

Perhaps then they could have had a chance. Perhaps then there would no have been so many deaths. Perhaps then Chandler Bing would not have been running for his life; running away from the destruction.

Debris had been everywhere. Chandler had barely been able to see through the dust. The few things that he had seen had been horrible.

Blood, everywhere. Bodies, everywhere. Panic, everywhere.

Chandler had no idea how he survived, how he had made it when so many hadn't. How he had withstood the deafening noise that he was sure was going to explode his head, or at least his eardrums. He had no idea how he didn't choke to death on the dust, didn't break down in tears over the destruction. He had no idea how the smell didn't overwhelm him, the smell of death. He had no idea how he survived.

But he had.

Perhaps it was his love of life that had saved him. Perhaps it was his faith that had saved him. Perhaps it had been his desperate urge to protect his loved ones.

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he had survived. He had been one of the lucky ones. All he knew was that he had to get to his friends. Had to protect them.

He didn't stop to help anyone; there were few that could be helped.

He didn't stop. He ran.

He ran as fast as he could. Ran through the debris, the dust, the decay of newly created corpses. He ran, desperately ignoring the blood, the death, the smell. He ran until he reached the door, and then continued running.

Up the stairs. Ran until he reached another door. He didn't stop. He had to get to them.

Had to protect them.

The door flew open and Monica gasped.

"Chandler?" she cried in shock, taking in his appearance. He was hurt. His shoulder was bleeding, although Monica wasn't sure if Chandler was even aware of the wound.

"Chandler? What happened?" she asked, attempting to make her voice as calm and even as possible. Chandler stared at her as she walked over to him, his blue eyes standing out amongst all the blood and dust. "Chandler?" Monica pressed when he didn't answer, panic threatening to overtake her. She had to know what had happened. She had to know why he was in this state of shock. She had to.

But once Chandler spoke, Monica wished that she hadn't. Wished that he had never told her. The words were bad enough; the vagueness of them chilling her. But it wasn't the words that affected her the most. It was the way Chandler said it. The way his voice was dull and monotone. It was the way his blue eyes shined, not with happiness, but with pure fear. It was the way his body trembled. Monica wished that Chandler had never spoken those words, spoken the words that chilled her to her core. But he had.

"They're here."


	2. Chapter 1

Hi! I've reposted my first 'official' chapter because, thankfully, Kristy darling pointed out a silly little mistake that i made...like 5 times! so, 'creator' has now become 'crater' which is what it was meant to say! Thanks babe, for pointing that out, i would never have noticed! Stupid word not picking it up! So, please read and review and enjoy!

I do not own Friends/actors/ characters, but I love Chandler!

* * *

"What?"

Monica stared at Chandler in shock, not understanding what he was saying. Not wanting to understand. Something wasn't right with him. Something was happening. And it wasn't good.

"They're here? Who's here?" she asked urgently. Chandler shook his head, grabbing Monica's hand and pulling her towards the door. "Chandler! Stop! What is going on?"

"We're leaving. Now. We have to go."

"What? Chandler, we can't go!" Monica exclaimed, trying to pull her hand away.

"We have to!" Chandler shrieked, turning to face her. Monica shrunk back at his sudden change of emotion, pulling her hand away. She stared at his face in horror. His skin had gone pure white, he was trembling without mercy and his eyes were wide with fear. She had never seen him look like that before. It terrified her. Something was wrong with him. Something had happened.

"Chandler…talk to me," she whispered, her lip trembling.

"There isn't enough time Mon," he urged, grabbing her hand once more. Monica shook her head.

"No! Talk to me! Tell me what is going on! Tell me what is happening!" she cried, feeling tears well in her eyes. He was scaring her.

"We have to go Mon!" Chandler exclaimed, his voice high and urgent. He pulled her towards the door once more, but Monica resisted.

"Who are 'they' Chandler? Tell me!" Monica pleaded. Chandler stared at her for a moment, and then let out a sigh.

"I-I don't know," he admitted finally. "But they are killing everyone."

"W-What?" Monica whimpered. Chandler sighed again.

"We have to go. Now. I don't know who they are, but I know we can't stay here. We have to go Mon!"

"B-But…we should pack-"

"We don't have time for that Monica, we have to go now!" Chandler insisted. Monica nodded, shell-shocked by what he had just told her.

"O-Okay," she whispered. "But…at least let me grab some food or something."

"Okay," Chandler said after a moment, glancing towards the window. "Hurry."

Monica rushed over to the fridge and pulled out whatever she could; a few bottles of water, some apples, anything that was light and essential. She grabbed a bag and piled the items in, then quickly made her way back over to Chandler. He took the bag and slung it over his shoulder, wincing as it touched his injury. Monica reached to take it away, but Chandler shook his head, stopping her.

"Okay babe," he murmured, grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door.

"Wait, what about the others?" Monica exclaimed. Chandler nodded, walking to the door of Apartment 19.

"I was getting to that," he informed her as he opened the door. "Joey? Joey, you here?"

"Hey man, what's up?" Joey asked, walking out of him bedroom. "What happened to you? Are you okay? You're bleeding!" Chandler walked over and grabbed his arm. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"We have to go; we have to get out of New York. We aren't safe here, they're killing everyone," Chandler explained quickly. To Monica's surprise, Joey didn't ask any questions. Instead he stared at Chandler for a second, and then nodded.

"O-Okay Chan, whatever you say," he said softly. Chandler smiled grimly, and then headed towards the door, pulling Monica along with him. Joey followed behind, shutting the door behind him.

"Where is Rach? And Ross and Pheebs?" Chandler asked as they rushed down the stairs.

"I-I think they were at Central Perk," Monica answered, her voice hitching slightly. She was having trouble keeping up with Chandler, and was thankful that he was holding onto her. She was sure that she would have fallen behind otherwise. Not that Chandler would have left her.

"We have to tell them what is happening," Chandler muttered.

"What _is _happening?" Joey asked finally, grabbing onto Monica's other hand. She smiled at him gratefully.

"I don't know…we're being attacked, everyone is dead," Chandler answered shortly. "We just have to get out of New York, I know that much."

"Why?"

"I don't know why Joey, we just have to," Chandler exclaimed, sounding flustered. "Y-You didn't see, we have to get out of here!"

"Is it the terrorists?" Monica whispered as they reached the door. Chandler paused, turning to face her.

"I don't think so…" he trailed off, glancing out the door. Monica and Joey followed his gaze and saw nothing but dust. "It's really bad out there…Mon, you just keep a hold of my hand and…keep your eyes closed okay sweetie? Joey and I will take care of you."

"O-Okay," Monica said softly. She trusted Chandler, more then anything in the world. And if he didn't want her to see something, she was sure that she didn't want to see either. Chandler smiled a shaky smile at her.

"Okay, we have to be really fast and really careful…close your eyes babe." Monica did as he asked, sure that the two boys were having a silent conversation over her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what they were 'discussing'.

"Alright," Joey murmured, grabbing Monica's hand once more. "Okay, here we go."

Monica tightened her grip on the boy's hands, her heart pounding in her chest as they ran through the door. The air hit her, and she suppressed a cry. It was hot, it was dusty and it reeked of…something Monica had never smelt before. She suddenly realised what the smell was and nearly vomited. Blood. Decay. She was smelling death and destruction.

"Oh my god." Monica heard Joey's moan, low and pained, but she didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to see. She just kept running. "How…what…I-"

"I know," Chandler whispered, so low that Monica could barely hear him. She stumbled over something, something that was still warm. A body. She let out a sob, and felt Chandler squeeze her hand. "It's okay…we're here."

Monica felt Chandler push into something and she sensed that they were indoors.

"Oh my God!" Monica's eyes flew open at Rachel's voice, and she almost started crying. She had been worried that her best friend was dead, but here she was, rushing towards them, dust covering her body.

"Rach!" Monica whimpered, pulling her friend into her arms. Rachel let out a cry, and buried her face into her best friend's neck.

"Are you okay?" Chandler asked worriedly as he wrapped his arms around the two; Joey following suite.

"I-I think so," Rachel stammered after a moment, pulling away. She glanced at Chandler, letting out a gasp. "Oh, sweetie, your shoulder!"

"It's fine," Chandler said quickly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay…just freaked out. What the hell is going on?" Rachel questioned, glancing from Joey to Monica, then letting her gaze fall on Chandler once more. He shook his head.

"We're under attack…but it's gonna be okay Rach. We just have to get out of New York, that's all," he said softly. Rachel nodded, her chin trembling.

"O-Okay," she whispered.

"Where are Ross and Phoebe?" Monica asked, glancing around the coffee house. It was completely empty; not even Gunther was there. She glanced behind her and saw that the windows had shattered. Thankfully she could only see dust once more. She couldn't see what she knew was there.

"T-They were here, but then they left…that was minutes before…before everything started to happen. I don't know where they are, I was hoping they would come back!" she cried, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sure they're fine," Joey reassured her, but he wasn't sure if he believed it. Rachel nodded.

"We all rushed outside…trying to see what was going on and…and people just started dropping…I was holding onto Gunther and he just…one minute I had him, the next he was on the ground. He was…he was dead, and…everyone was dead. I made it back in here somehow, and I hid behind the counter…I was too scared to go back outside." Her voice was a mere whisper by the time she finished. Joey hugged her close.

"We have to go…I don't think we have much time," Chandler said softly, glancing out the window.

"What about Ross and Phoebe?" Joey asked. Chandler shook his head.

"W-We have to go," he said in a strained voice. Monica let out a sob. "I'm sure they're okay. They will be okay. They can look after themselves."

"I know," she whispered. "But I-I…"

"I know babe, I know," Chandler murmured. "But I'm sure they will be okay."

"We have to get out of here," Rachel agreed, although the decision was eating her up inside. She didn't want to leave her two friends out there, but they had no choice.

"Yeah," Monica said softly. The ground shook suddenly, and they all glanced out the window.

"What the hell was that?" Joey muttered. Chandler shook his head again.

"I have no idea," he whispered.

"Let's go," Monica said after a moment. "You're right. We have to get out of here. They'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," Chandler agreed. "And besides, if they do get in trouble, they can just play their music. I'm sure that a verse of 'Smelly Cat' would scare away any would be attackers." Everyone laughed, although it was forced. They were all terrified for their friends; terrified for each other.

"How are we going to get out of New York?" Rachel asked softly.

"Car," Chandler answered automatically. "We find a car and we drive…fast and carefully."

"What if there is a traffic jam on the bridge?" Monica whispered. Chandler smirked.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it," he muttered. Monica smiled and nodded, taking Chandler's hand once more.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Let's go."

"Rach, take my hand, and I want you to close your eyes," Chandler instructed.

"I-I've already seen-"

"I know, but you don't need to see again," he whispered, cutting her off. Rachel nodded, slipping her hand into his. Joey took Monica's hand once more, and both girls closed their eyes. "Okay, good…let's go."

"You know, this in control, leader type thing that you are doing is pretty sexy," Monica said to Chandler as they walked outside, trying to lighten the mood. She heard him let out a short laugh, although it was hollow.

"I'll have to remember that for later," he muttered.

"Keep it up and I might even jump you," Rachel joked, her voice tense. She tightened her grip on Chandler's hand, taking in a deep breath. The smell was horrendous.

"It gets better and better," Chandler said as playfully as possible, glancing through the dust. He didn't want to see but he knew he had to. He had to look out for cars – ones that weren't destroyed – and any bodies that they might step on. Better he look then the girls. He swallowed harshly, seeing Gunther's body. He hadn't been close to the guy, but it still sickened him, the thought of someone he knew lying dead on the ground. He prayed that they wouldn't stumble across either Ross or Phoebe's body. He wasn't sure he would be able to handle that, and knew for sure that the girls wouldn't. He glanced at Joey, who was staring at Gunther as well, a pained look on his face.

"Why did we stop?" Monica asked softly. Joey jumped slightly, giving Chandler a guilty glance.

"No reason…just looking around," Chandler lied, squeezing both the girls hands reassuringly. Monica nodded and thankfully didn't open her eyes.

"A-Any cars?" Rachel questioned after a moment, holding her breath as Chandler helped her step over something. She knew what she was stepping over and it made her want to vomit.

"There are a lot of destroyed cars, no undestroyed cars yet," Joey murmured. Rachel nodded, leaning into Chandler slightly. She felt him tense up and realised that she had brushed against his shoulder.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"It's okay," Chandler reassured her. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

"How…how did you hurt it?" she whispered.

"I don't remember…I think something hit me…there was so much going on, and I just saw everyone dying…I was more concerned with getting to Mon; getting to all of you guys then I was with myself. I just kept running," he explained, his voice tight with emotion. "I-I had to get to you guys. Had to know if you were all okay." Rachel nodded again, biting her lip to stop from crying. His voice was so pained; it was obvious that he had seen a lot more then she had. He had seen more people die; he had nearly been killed himself. The wound on his shoulder could have easily been fatal. Rachel knew that Chandler was being strong for them, but deep down he was ready to crack. They all were.

"It's okay sweetie," Monica said softly. Chandler took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Yeah," he murmured. There was a short silence, no one sure what to say. What could they say that would make this situation better? They were walking, hand in hand, through dust and debris, stepping over bodies of people they didn't know, and some that they had possibly met before. Their two other friends were missing; possibly hurt or worse, and there was the undeniable fear that the worst was yet to come.

"Chan, what about that one?" Joey's soft voice broke the silence.

"It…it looks okay. I think it is undamaged," Chandler answered after a moment. Rachel resisted the urge to open her eyes, knowing that it would not be a good idea.

"Yeah, okay…we'll check it out," Joey said firmly.

"What if there is no key in the car?" Monica asked, the thought suddenly occurring to her.

"Phoebe…taught me how to hotwire a car," Joey said after a moment.

"Really? How did she know how to do that?" Rachel said in surprise.

"It's Phoebe…she's done a lot of things we don't know about," Chandler answered, laughing slightly. "You know how to hotwire a car?"

"Yeah…she taught me when I went to Las Vegas…just in case, you know, I lost the keys or something," Joey explained, his voice sombre.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Monica said dryly, trying to keep her mind off of the situation at hand. It was hard, but she was doing as well as she could. The smell and the heavy air was a constant reminder of the situation though.

"It looks okay," Chandler said after a moment. Monica realised that they must have been close to the car, and she wanted to open her eyes. But she didn't.

"Yeah," Joey agreed.

"What type of car is it?" Rachel questioned. There was a short pause.

"Does it really matter?" Monica hissed. Rachel shrugged.

"Well, no…I'm not even sure why I asked," she muttered, feeling self conscious all of a sudden. It wasn't the first time she had said something ridiculous, but she felt more embarrassed then usual. Most likely because of the time she had chosen to say it.

"Yeah, we'll take this one," Chandler decided after a moment, nodding to himself. He released Monica's hand and tried the door. It was unsurprisingly locked. "Damnit," he muttered.

"Locked?" Monica asked, clinging to Joey with both hands.

"Yeah…" Chandler answered, glancing around for something to open it with.

"Who has the biggest boobs?" Joey questioned suddenly. Rachel sighed.

"Joey, we aren't doing this again," she muttered.

"It worked last time!" Joey exclaimed. Rachel shook her head, tightening her grip on Chandler's hand.

"Yeah, well, we don't want the girls running around unsupported," Chandler murmured, more to himself then the others. He released his hold on Rachel's hand, and took the bag off his shoulders, handing it to her. Rachel briefly wondered what he was giving her, then understood. "I'm gonna break it."

"With what?" Monica asked worriedly. Chandler didn't answer. Instead, he lifted his arm up and threw his elbow at the window. It shattered and Chandler felt a touch of satisfaction, and more then a touch of pain.

"Ow," Joey sympathised. "I bet that hurt."

"Yeah, just a bit," Chandler admitted, wincing slightly as he unlocked both the front and back door.

"You okay?" Rachel asked worriedly. Chandler opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a huge explosion.

"What the hell?" Monica gasped, turning towards the noise. She didn't open her eyes though. She was sure that she wouldn't like what she would see.

"Get in the car," Chandler yelled, his voice tight with panic. "Now!"

Rachel let out a gasp, feeling Chandler push her forwards. She scrambled for the door handle, opening it with difficulty.

"What's going on?" she whispered, sliding inside; holding the bag close. Joey helped Monica get quickly inside and slammed the door shut. They all jumped as there was another explosion; this one closer and longer then the last. Joey and Chandler both stared up at the source of the noise, their eyes wide with fear and amazement.

"Holy hell," Joey breathed, watching the destruction in front of them. Their apartment building was crumbling to the ground, pieces of brick falling to the street below. The two boys watched as their home was destroyed, unable to do anything but.

"W-Why is it falling?" Chandler whispered. "What caused it?" Joey shook his head, his mouth open in shock. They stood, rooted to the ground, unable to do anything but stare; watch as their home became nothing more then rubble. There was a flash and suddenly another building was falling, this one closer then theirs. The girls let out a terrified shriek from inside the car, causing Chandler to jump into action. They had to get out of there. He grabbed Joey's arm and pulled him back.

"Come on Joe!" he yelled. Joey nodded, and they both ran towards the car; Chandler to the drivers side, Joey to the passengers.

"W-What's happening?" Monica whimpered, clinging onto Rachel for dear life. Neither of them had opened their eyes, too scared of what they might find.

"We're getting out of here, that's what's happening!" Chandler exclaimed, glancing around desperately for the keys. "Shit!" he shrieked, banging his hands against the wheel. "Joey, there's no keys!"

"I got it!" Joey leaned over, getting to work on hotwiring the car. Chandler glanced back at the girls, his gaze lingering on Monica. He couldn't let either of them die, but especially not Monica. He loved her too much. He was going to get her out of there. He was going to get them all out of there.

"You guys okay?" he asked, jumping at another explosion. They seemed to be getting closer and closer each time.

"Just peachy," Rachel answered sarcastically. Chandler smirked, despite himself.

"Just keep your eyes closed, it's gonna be okay," he insisted. Both girls nodded, their grips on one another tightening. Chandler turned back around, just in time to see the ground in front of them explode in a flash of light.

"Shit!" Joey yelled, ducking down further.

"Hurry up Joe," Chandler urged, staring at the hole in front of them. Something had caused that. "I-I think something is shooting at us! Hurry!"

"I'm hurrying!" Joey exclaimed.

"Well, hurry faster!" Chandler couldn't see what was shooting at them, but guessed that it was the same thing that had killed everyone. The same thing that had knocked down their home.

"Just give me a mo…ah!" The car jumped to life, causing a collective sigh of relief from inside. Chandler yanked it into reverse and pushed his foot down; completely down. The car shot back, just as there was another flash of light. Joey and Chandler stared at the road for a second; stared at the huge crater where they had just been.

"Close one," Joey remarked.

"Yep." Chandler spun the wheel and quickly ended up the opposite way to what they had been seconds earlier. He changed gears, taking his foot off the accelerator for a moment. "I know this is going to sound cliché, but hang on!" he yelled, and pressed his foot down once more. The girls took his advice and let go of one another, choosing instead to cling to the sides of the car.

"Eyes closed?" Chandler asked tightly, dodging the debris and cars on the road. He attempted to dodge the bodies, but found that there was just too many.

"Yeah," Monica called out, her voice shaky. She could feel the car going over bumps, and knew what those bumps were.

"Good."

"Oh god," Rachel moaned as they went over yet another bump. Apparently, she knew what they were as well, Monica thought, her stomach rolling.

"Chan!" Joey yelled, pointing frantically at a newly created crater.

"I see it Joey!" Chandler yelled back, swerving frantically to the right.

"I was just making sure jackass!" Joey exclaimed, fighting the strange urge to giggle. Adrenaline does odd things to a person. It can make someone angry, it can make them strong, it can make them crazy. Joey seemed to fall into the latter categories.

"Yeah, and I was busy seeing it _jackass_!" Chandler mocked, a crazed smile covering his face. Joey was glad he wasn't alone in his crazy adrenaline rush. Although he was happy that the girls had their eyes shut. He hated to imagine what they would think if they saw their two savours, grinning like mad men.

"I'm glad you two are having fun swapping barbs, but are you remembering to keep your attention on the road?" Rachel shouted as another explosion went off; another piece of road bursting into a million pieces.

"What do you think we were swapping barbs about Rach?" Chandler asked, laughing slightly. He wasn't sure why he was laughing; perhaps it was because he knew that if he didn't, he would end up crying. They went over another bump and he sobered slightly. "Yes, I'm paying attention…you guys keeping your eyes shut?"

"Yes," Monica answered, her voice strained. "You okay sweetie?"

"I'm fine," Chandler said as he yanked the wheel quickly, avoiding a new crater by mere centre metres.

"Holy shit!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing Chandler's leg. Chandler didn't bother brushing it off. He couldn't take his hands off the wheel; they could die if he did.

"What's shooting at us?" Rachel hissed, hearing yet another explosion to the right of them.

"I don't know Rach!" Chandler replied, his knuckles turning white from his death grip on the wheel. "It's like something out of Star Trek!"

"Star Trek!" Rachel shrieked in horror. "Star Trek! You mean, like aliens?"

Chandler glanced quickly in the review mirror, trying to get a glimpse at what was attacking them. All he could see was dust and debris. No. Wait, he could see something else. A light, high up in the sky. Higher then any street light, or apartment, but lower then a plane. He raised his eye brows, moving his gaze back to the road.

"It's possible," he answered, his voice sounding high and unnatural to him.

"What do you mean 'it's possible'?" Rachel exclaimed. Chandler shrugged, then realised that she couldn't see him.

"Well… I don't know! It isn't a terrorist attack, it definitely isn't an Earthquake…aliens seem probable to me at the moment!" he said, grimacing as they went over another bump.

"Aliens aren't real! It can't be aliens! That isn't possible!" Rachel insisted.

"I don't know Rach! All I know is that I watched dozens of people drop dead in front of me, and that something, some light in the dust, is shooting at us! And, oh, it blew up our building! I didn't think any of that was possible, but that damn light in the sky proved me wrong! At this moment in time, I think anything is possible!" Chandler exclaimed, feeling Joey's hand tighten on his thigh. He glanced at his best friend, and saw the Italian staring back at him, an unidentifiable look on his face.

"Our apartment is gone?" Monica whispered after a beat. Chandler grimaced once more. He wasn't meant to have told them that.

"Yeah…that big explosion before we got in the car…that was our building collapsing," he said softly.

"Oh my god," Rachel murmured, grabbing Monica's hand.

"Yeah…I'm sorry, I wasn't meant to tell you that…I'm sorry," Chandler said in a quiet voice, tears springing to his eyes as their loss suddenly hit him. "Oh my god, all our stuff! The chick and the duck-"

"It's okay Chandler," Joey cut him off, patting his leg.

"At least we are alive," Monica added, although Chandler could hear the tears in her voice. Chandler nodded, swerving once more; around a car this time, not a newly created crater. In fact, there hadn't been any explosions for over a minute. He glanced in the review mirror, and then breathed a sigh of relief. The light was gone.

"I-I think…I think it's stopped chasing us," he said after a moment.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked apprehensively. Chandler shrugged.

"I don't know…it's been a while since the last little crater," he muttered.

"Crater?" Rachel exclaimed, a frown covering her face. "What do you mean 'crater'?"

"Well…that's kinda what all those explosions have been," Joey explained. "The…shots hitting the road. They've been creating little craters."

"Shit," Monica whispered. Chandler sighed again, although this time it wasn't in relief. He was glancing out the shattered window, glancing at the destruction. The majority of the buildings that had once stood there had now fallen to the ground. He shook his head, feeling tears well in his eyes once more. He wasn't going to cry though. He knew that if he started, he would never stop. And he had to be strong. Had to be strong for the girls. He glanced up at the road ahead.

"I-I think we are nearly at the bridge," he murmured. "Once we get there, it's gonna be okay…We are going to be fine."

"Are you sure about that?" Rachel whispered. Chandler sighed once more.

"I have to be sure Rach. Otherwise…" he trailed off, not having to finish the sentence. Everyone else understood what he was saying. Joey nodded, patting Chandler's leg once more.

"We are going to be okay," he agreed. "We are going to find Ross and Pheebs, and we are going to be okay. Is that clear?" The girls nodded.

"Yeah," Monica murmured. "Yeah, that's clear." Chandler smiled, gripping the wheel firmly.

"We're going to be fine," he whispered. "We are going to be just fine."


	3. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! They were great...and thanks again to Kristy. I dont know if you read my new summary of the last chapter, but i reposted that chapter, and changed my 'creators' to 'craters' like they were meant to be! Thanks for that babe, i didnt notice!

This chapter is slightly uneventful, but was neccessary, so bear with me. Oh, and as I'm Australian, i know squat about New York. Never been there in my life, so i hope i got the information right! I think it is, but i could be wrong! If i messed anything up, please forgive me...I dont know anything about the George Washington Bridge (if that is the right bridge) i barely know anything about the Sydney Harbour Bridge hehe!

Anyway, please read and review, and I promise to update soon! Toodles!

I do not own Friends/ characters/ actors, but I would gladly put my life in Matt Perry's hands

* * *

The car swerved.

Monica took in a deep breath, glad that it was only swerving. Glad that they hadn't gone over another bump. Glad that they hadn't gone over another body.

She rubbed her engagement ring, trying to take her mind off of what was happening outside. What was happening beyond her closed eyelids.

Eight weeks.

There was eight weeks left until she was to become Mrs. Chandler Bing. Eight weeks until the happiest day of her life, and instead of getting prepared, she was running for her life.

Eight weeks until she was meant to stand up in front of her friends and family, and marry the love of her life. Eight weeks until she was to say those two words 'I do'. Eight weeks until she was meant to walk down the aisle, her father on her arm.

Her father.

Monica hoped he was okay. She hoped her entire family was okay. She wanted Ross to be here, sitting next to her. Protecting her, just as Chandler was doing. She wanted her big brother here to look after her, like he had done so many times in the past. She missed him more then anything, and desperately wanted to know if he was okay.

Phoebe as well. It killed her that they weren't there with them. It didn't seem right.

The six of them were a team. They did everything together. It had always seemed odd when one of them was missing, during something as unimportant as a movie night. Now, they were running for their lives, running from an unseen enemy, and it didn't seem odd anymore. It seemed downright brutal. They weren't meant to be separated. Especially not at a time like this. Especially not when the other two could be dead. Especially not when the remaining four could breathe their last breaths at any moment.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Monica rubbed her engagement ring once more.

Eight weeks.

She had been looking forward to this day her entire life, and now it had been crudely taken away from her. They wouldn't have the wedding now. Not in eight weeks anyway. Not with what was happening.

Eight weeks.

She wanted it more then anything.

"Jesus," Joey's stricken voice pulled Monica from her thoughts, and she went to open her eyes. She stopped herself just in time. Chandler hadn't said it was okay yet. She was going to wait until he did. She hoped that Rachel would too.

"What? What is it?" Rachel asked tersely. Monica smiled thankfully. Rachel had kept her eyes shut. She had already seen too much. Hell, Monica had already seen too much, and she had seen barely anything.

"We're at the George Washington Bridge," Chandler told the girls, his voice edgy.

"Is…is it still there?" Monica asked timidly after a beat. Her building had fallen down so there was a chance that the bridge had too. After all, if these…beings were hell bent on destroying New York, like Monica believed they were, the bridge would be one of the first things to go. So many people drove over it each day. That was a hell of a lot of people to be killed. Monica shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, it's still there…but there are cars everywhere," Chandler explained.

"Moving cars?" Rachel asked hopefully. There was another pause.

"No," Joey answered curtly. Monica bit her lip. This was horrible.

"Will…will we be able to get through?" she whispered.

"I-I think so…we can weave through the cars," Chandler said quietly. "And we can always get out and walk."

"Walk? The bridge is like…I dunno, four miles?" Joey exclaimed. "That's a long way to walk."

"Well, I will probably be able to get over most of the bridge, maybe even all of it. But yeah, we might have to walk towards the end of it. But that will only be, like, one mile at the most," Chandler countered. "That isn't as far. And it's better then just sitting on an empty bridge, stuck there."

"Yeah," Monica agreed.

"Okay," Rachel said meekly. "Good thing I wore my walking shoes then."

"Least one of us did," Monica murmured, pulling at her strappy sandals.

"I'll carry you if I have to," Chandler offered. A small smile graced Monica's dirty face.

"Thanks sweetie," she whispered.

"Don't mention it."

There was another silence, each person caught up in their own thoughts. Monica was glad that they weren't going as fast anymore. She didn't like the thought of Chandler driving a car that fast, almost as much as she didn't like the thought of that _thing _following them. Thankfully, the thing had stopped following them a while back, and Chandler had slowed the car down slightly. They were still swerving quite a bit, and Monica knew the destruction must have been almost total. Neither of the boys had commented on seeing any survivors, and Monica wondered if they were the only ones left alive in New York. It seemed that way, although she knew that was impossible. There were a hell of a lot of people in New York. The thought of them all being dead was impossible.

But then, she had never thought this was possible either.

Maybe they were the only ones left alive in New York. In the state. In America. Hell, in the world. Monica shook her head at the thought, trying to banish it from her mind. That hadn't happened. There were others. Not everyone had died. Hopefully, for the world's sake, the attack had happened only in New York. Hopefully the rest of the world were sitting in front of their TV's, watching the destruction on the news, not living through it themselves. It was beneficial for the world if she thought that way. New York had only been attacked. No one else. Monica had to keep believing that.

But that seemed improbable. If someone, some_thing _was attacking them, they wouldn't just attack New York. It would be one of the first places to attack, yes; the large number of people would seem like a buffet to whatever was doing this. But after attacking New York, they would move on. Monica hated to think like that, but she knew that there was some truth in it. If they were aliens, like Chandler had suggested, then they wouldn't come all the way across the galaxy just to attack one city. If they had come from a distant world, they had come for a reason. And their horrific attack on the city didn't lead Monica to believe they had come in peace. They had come to destroy.

Monica had seen Independence Day. She had seen the destruction in it. And even though it was just a movie, she had a feeling that the same thing was happening here. They had come to destroy them. And Monica didn't think that uploading a virus was going to get rid of them. It had worked in the movie, but she had a feeling that they needed something more.

Christ, here she was talking about alien invasions. The impossible really had happened. She didn't even know if they _were _aliens. She had always believed that there was some other form of life out there – if not then it was an awful waste of space – but she had never thought that they would come here. Come and destroy Earth. But, like she had said, she didn't even know if they were aliens. Chandler had speculated, but none of them had seen anything, except for the light in the dust that he fiancé had talked about. That could have been anything.

But a voice in her head said that it was aliens. She didn't want it to be true, but she had a feeling it was.

She hated that feeling.

"At least we won't have to pay at the toll booth," Chandler joked weakly, and Monica was once more pulled from her thoughts.

"Yeah…I guess that something good _has _come from all of this," Monica whispered as the car swerved again.

"Are we on the bridge yet?" Rachel asked softly.

"Just got on it then," Chandler answered in a quiet voice. "Expect a lot of swerving…and some…more bumps."

"I-Is it really bad?" Monica questioned after a beat, although she wasn't sure why she had asked. She knew what the answer would be.

"Yeah," Joey murmured. "Yeah, it's pretty bad."

"So we can't open our eyes yet?" Rachel said after another beat.

"Nope, you keep them closed until we say so…I don't want you guys to see this," Chandler insisted, and Monica could tell by his voice just how bad it actually was. He was panicked. He was upset. No, he was more than upset. He was shattered. But Monica knew he was holding it together, for her and Rachel. And Joey perhaps. Joey was pretty strong, but Monica had a feeling that if one of the boys cracked, the other one wouldn't be far behind. She was glad they were holding it together. Otherwise their little band of escapees would be screwed.

"How is your shoulder honey?" Monica asked after another silence.

"It's okay. I can barely feel it," Chandler answered, but Monica knew he was lying. She could hear by the strain in his voice that he was in pain.

"Okay, but I'm going to have a look when we stop," she informed her fiancé.

"Mon-"

"This isn't really the time to be arguing about something like this sweetie." Monica insisted, using her firm voice. "I'm going to have a look," Chandler sighed, but relented.

"Fine," he murmured. "But it really is okay."

"Yeah, sure it is," Joey muttered.

"It looks worse then it is!" Chandler exclaimed as the car swerved.

"Whatever you say man."

The car went over another bump and Monica heard Rachel take in a deep breath. She wished she could see her best friend. She wished she could see Joey. She wished she could see the love of her life. But she wasn't going to. Not at this point in time. She wanted to, but she wasn't going to.

"A-Anybody hungry?" Rachel asked, her voice trembling.

"I don't think I will be able to eat for a long time," Monica said honestly.

"Same here," Chandler muttered.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. Rachel sighed.

"Yeah, I feel the same way…what about a drink? Is anybody thirsty? Please be thirsty," she pleaded. "It gives me something to do!"

"I am," Monica said softly after a beat. She wasn't really, but it did give her something to do. And it gave Rachel something to do. Monica felt something press against her arm and she moved it, taking the bottle of water in her hand. "Thanks Rach."

"Don't mention it," Rachel murmured. "Chandler? Joey?"

"No thanks," the boys said in unison. Monica heard Rachel slam her back into the seat, sighing once more. She was getting restless, Monica realised as she took a sip of water. Monica knew the feeling; she was getting pretty antsy herself. They had been in the car for what seemed like an eternity, although she knew it had only been around an hour. Maybe more, maybe less. She wasn't wearing her watch. Not that it would have mattered, seeing she couldn't open her eyes to look at it.

"How far along are we?" Rachel asked after yet another silence. Monica could hear her best friend drumming her hands on her legs, mixing in with the air rushing through the broken window. It was deathly silent outside, which made the situation all the more eerie and serious. New York was never quiet. It was the city that never sleeps. Yet, despite a few birds flying by, the water below and a couple of crashes in the distance – buildings falling, Monica realised in horror – there was nothing. No traffic noises. No angry drivers yelling at one another. Nothing.

The car swerved. Swerve, bump. Swerve, bump. It seemed like a ritual of some kind.

"We're getting close to the end," Joey replied after a long pause, and Monica could tell by his voice that there was something wrong.

"What's wrong?" Rachel questioned. Apparently Monica hadn't been the only one that noticed the change in Joey's voice.

"There are a lot of cars up ahead," Chandler explained after a painful beat.

"How many?" Monica whispered.

"Too many."

"Are we going to have to walk?" Rachel asked softly.

"It looks like it," Joey answered.

"Yippee," Monica said sarcastically. Chandler let out a hollow laugh.

"You're always saying you need the exercise babe," he joked, although his voice was heavy with pain.

"Good point," Monica muttered, taking another sip of water. She felt for the bag and slipped the bottle back in.

Swerve, bump. Swerve, bump. Swerve, bump.

Monica started to wonder if she should have counted the bumps. Counted how many bodies they had…come across. She knew that she would have lost count quickly. And it would have made this situation all the most horrific. At least she could almost pretend that there weren't that many bodies out there. The deathly silence contradicted her imaginary situation though. She knew it wasn't true. She knew that everyone was dead.

Swerve, bump. Swerve, bump.

The car pulled to a stop and Monica sighed.

"Time to walk?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Chandler answered. "It's not really that far though. Less then a mile, I think. And we can walk on the sidewalk. Saves us climbing over the cars."

"Okay," Rachel murmured. Monica heard the two front doors open and knew that the boys were getting out. She took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. It opened before she could find it and she felt hands grabbing her.

"I got you Mon," Chandler said softly, taking her hand. Monica smiled despite the situation. She had missed his touch, even if it had only been absent for a short amount of time. "Rach? You-"

"I got the bag," Rachel interrupted, a teasing lilt in her voice.

"Just making sure," Chandler told her.

"We good?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, we're good," Monica replied, squeezing Chandler's hand. He squeezed back, and they started to walk. "Rach? Joey?"

"They're on my side babe," Chandler informed her. Monica let out a small sigh and nodded.

"Okay."

The foursome walked in silence, hand in hand for quite a while, Chandler helping Monica over anything that got in her way. Monica knew they were bodies, but she didn't comment. She didn't want to bring it up. She couldn't imagine what the boys were seeing; couldn't imagine what some of the bodies must have looked like.

"We're going to have to climb," Chandler broke the silence. "There's a nice big car wall."

"Goodie," Rachel said derisively.

"Joe, you and Rach go first," Chandler instructed.

"Okay," Joey said softly. "I got you Rach."

Monica stood, hand in hand with her fiancé, with the love of her life, listening to Joey helping Rachel over the cars. She tightened her grip on Chandler's hand and leaned in to his body. What she wouldn't give to be home at that moment. Not that she had a home anymore. Monica took a deep breath, fighting back the tears that threatened the fall. They didn't have a home. They were homeless, and their two friends - her _brother- were_ missing.

"Okay, our turn Mon," Chandler whispered in her ear. "Keep your eyes closed, I got you."

"Okay," Monica said softly. They moved forward and she waited as Chandler climbed up onto the car, releasing her hand briefly. She missed his touch, but thankfully his hands returned within seconds; this time around her waist. Chandler effortlessly lifted her up, placing her carefully on top of the bonnet. He kept his left arm around her waist, and took her hand with his right.

"Alright, step forward, I got you," he murmured. "It will be a bit like dancing."

"But you can't dance," Monica said softly as they slowly walked forward.

"I can try," Chandler said and Monica could hear the smile in his voice. She smiled back, silently counting the steps they had taken. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9-

"How many cars are here?" she asked in both amazement and horror.

"…It's a big car wall," Chandler answered softly. "We're nearly at the end though."

"Okay." Monica took in a deep breath, her feet slipping slightly on the car. Chandler tightened his grip. "Hell of a day to wear sandals, huh?"

"I like them," Chandler informed her. Monica smiled again, but her smile was short lived as her foot slipped again. This time though, Chandler slipped as well and they both went tumbling to the ground. On impulse, Monica threw out her arms to soften her fall, and her eyes flew open.

She hit the road with a groan, the air whooshing out of her body. But she wasn't worried about her lack of breath. Instead, she stared in horror at the corpse in front of her.

"Oh my god," she whimpered, taking in the broken body. Blood was everywhere, and the woman was staring back at her blankly, her eyes wide with terror. "O-Oh my…"

Hands grabbed Monica, pulling her up from the ground.

"It's okay sweetie," Chandler soothed in her ear, hugging her tight. "It's okay."

"How can it be okay Chandler?" Monica whispered, still staring at the woman. "She's _dead! _They all are! How can it be okay? Everybody is _dead!_"

"We aren't," Rachel murmured, kneeling down next to her, with Joey in tow. Monica tore her eyes away from the woman and looked at her best friend, dismayed to find her eyes open. "We're alive Mon."

"I-I know," Monica said after a beat, turning away from Rachel's stricken face. She buried her face into Chandler's neck, breathing in her scent. It had always comforted her before, and today was no exception. She immediately felt herself calming as much as she could. "D-Do you think everybody is dead?" she whispered, her voice hitching slightly. Chandler hugged her tighter, pressing his lips in her hair.

"I don't know sweetie," he said honestly. "I hope not."

Monica nodded tearfully.

"W-We should keep moving," she said after a moment, pulling away. Chandler nodded and stood up, offering her his hand. Monica took it and slowly stood, wiping at the tears that threatened to fall.

"You okay?" Joey asked. Monica glanced at him and shook her head.

"No…but are you? Are any of us?" she whispered. Joey smiled grimly.

"Good point."

"But we have to be," Monica said softly, squeezing Chandler's hand. He nodded once more, taking Rachel's hand in his own. He glanced down at Monica, smiling slightly.

"Let's keep moving."


	4. Chapter 3

Hey guys sorry bout the lack of updates...on this story anyway! I had a lovely case of 'okay...what do i do now!" but I'm good now, and I promise i will continue my updates quickly! This chap is short, and i'm sorry bout that, but I was meant to be in bed an hour ago, so...and once more, ignore any spelling mistakes!

Please read and review!

Oh, and by the way...I have to warn you, that this story will probably not have a happy ending...and sadly, you guys will not be able to sway me on that...when i get an idea for a story, I stick with it, no matter what anyone says...sorry! Please read and review!

I do not own friends/actors/characters...but...well, I dont know...something to do with Matt Perry!

* * *

Rachel stumbled.

She would have gone tumbling to the ground; would have landed alongside the dead bodies, but Chandler had a hold of her hand. She stared down at the man she had nearly fallen on. She had seen a couple of dead bodies before that day, but they had only been of her grandparents, who had died of old age. They had looked peaceful, as if they were only sleeping. The people that lay around their feet did not look peaceful. They did not look like they were only sleeping.

They looked like they had been slaughtered.

Like they had been running for their lives; trying to get away from an enemy that was relentless. Trying to run from the unstoppable.

The man she had nearly fallen on had no legs. Rachel was sure that if she looked around, she might have found his missing limbs, but she really didn't want to look. She didn't even want to look at the remaining part of him. Hell, she didn't want to look at any of it. All she wanted to do was go home, crawl into bed and never come out again.

But her home was gone. Her bed was gone. And she had to keep moving otherwise her life might leave as well. She didn't want to die. She didn't want her friends to die.

She didn't want anyone to die, but that had happened. The man at her feet had died, and she hated looking at his body.

She could have closed her eyes again; Chandler and Joey had suggested that the girls do that. They wanted to protect them; stop them from seeing the horrible sight that lay upon them. The girls had refused, insisting that the damage had already been done. That they had seen the damage already. They knew what it looked like, and there was no point in closing their eyes and pretending everything was okay.

Plus, Rachel didn't want the two boys to go through that by themselves. She didn't want them to have to worry about leading the girls along, making sure that they didn't trip over anything. It was better for everyone if they kept their eyes open. The boys – Chandler especially – had enough to worry about. Rachel was worried about Chandler, and she knew that if _she _was worried, then Monica must have been secretly panicking. Joey was probably overly concerned as well.

Chandler hadn't said anything, but he was tiring quickly. He was ready to crack; panic over the situation, and he was exhausted. Rachel could see all that by just looking at him. He had said that they wound on his shoulder was nothing; that they shouldn't be concerned about it, but Rachel knew that it was causing him a lot of pain. Not to mention the fact that she was sure he had lost a lot of blood. That was probably one of the reasons why he was tiring quickly; he wasn't just exhausted, he was being drained of his life force.

The man at her feet had already been depleted of his life force. Everyone who had been on the bridge during the attack had lost their life force. From the looks of it, everyone in the _city _had lost their life force. But Rachel couldn't see their bodies. She couldn't look at the other bodies on the bridge.

All she could look at was the man at her feet. The man had probably had a family. He was wearing a wedding ring, so he definitely had a wife. It was likely that he had also had children. Past that terrified expression, past the blood that covered his face, Rachel saw a man who had loved life; a man who had wanted to fulfil everything. A family man. She was sure that he would have had children.

But now he had nothing.

Not even his legs.

"Are you okay Rach?" Chandler's soft question pulled Rachel away from her thoughts of the man at her feet; pulled her away from the horror that lay in front of her. She slowly turned her head to face Chandler, desperate to look away from the man, but finding it almost impossible to do so.

"Yeah…" she whispered, looking at Chandler's haggard face. He looked as though he had aged 10 years in the last day, which seemed possible. Not in appearance, but in spirit. Chandler, always the joker, always the fun guy, always the person to turn to when you felt down. He was like a kid at times, something that Rachel adored about him. Although having a low self esteem, he had a zest for life that was hard to find in most people these days. Happiness danced in his eyes, showed in his smile, shone through in his voice. His jokes kept the group on their toes, and kept them from being depressed all the time. He had held the group together at many times; when they thought that things were getting worse, when they thought that the fights would go on forever, Chandler had been there. He had been there, with his dancing eyes, his knowing smirk, his sarcastic jokes. Most of all, he had simply been there.

Rachel had always depended on Chandler to break the ice, to make any situation all the more bearable. She knew he was trying as hard as possible to do that during this situation, and Rachel was grateful, but he was fighting a losing battle.

There was no knowing smirk, no sarcastic joke. There especially were no dancing eyes, which worried Rachel the most. His blue eyes had always been alive with laughter, alive with happiness, alive with the zest for life that he possessed. During all the hard times in his life, the break-ups, the fights, the family issues, they had sparkled.

But that sparkle was gone now; disappeared with the death of so many, ran like the blood that trickled down his chest.

It worried Rachel, but she knew that Monica worried more; so much more. As did Joey. The fiancé, the best friend. Compare them to Rachel, and she had nothing. She worried simply as a friend, as a little sister, but they worried so much more. She hated to think what was going through their minds at that moment.

"You sure?" Chandler pressed, his dull blue eyes studying her critically.

"I'm fine Chandler," she insisted, sighing as she turned away. "I-I just…never mind."

"What?" Monica urged, her voice soft.

"I just can't stop thinking…about everything, you know?" Rachel murmured. Joey smiled sadly.

"Yeah…we know," he whispered.

"Do you need a break?" Chandler asked, still studying her.

"No, I'm okay…I'm a bit tired, but aren't we all?" she laughed humourlessly. "We have to keep moving right? We must be nearly at the end of the bridge…right?"

"Yeah, I think so," Joey reassured her. Rachel nodded, smiling grimly at Chandler.

"Okay…then we keep moving," she said firmly. Chandler nodded slightly, then turned to Monica.

"Are you okay sweetie?"

"I'm fine Chandler…don't worry about us, we have to keep moving," Monica said softly. Chandler bit his lip, then nodded again.

"Let's go man," Joey said after a moment. Chandler shook his head slightly, then smiled grimly.

"Okay," he said distantly. Rachel frowned at Monica, who let out a small sigh.

They began to walk once more, Rachel stepping over the man at her feet. A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought of what he had lost. His wife, his supposed children, his life. Just like so many people that day, he had lost everything and more.

"You sure you're okay?" Joey asked her, spotting the tear running down her face. Rachel smiled sadly.

"No, I'm not okay Joey," she said softly, shaking her head. "It's pretty hard to be okay at this moment…but I'm trying. Like Mon said, we have to be."

Joey nodded, smiling down at her. The smile was forced, but Rachel was glad to see it. She suspected that she would be seeing few Joey Tribbiani smiles in the near future. She doubted that she would be seeing few smiles at all in the near future. There wasn't much to smile about.

They continued to walk, the silence looming over them like a bird looming over its prey. It was eerie, the silence. Although it wasn't completely silent. Rachel could still hear crashes in the distance, growing closer and closer with each noise. She wasn't sure if the crashes were more buildings falling to the ground, or the supposed aliens creating destruction. She really didn't want to even think about it. All she knew was that they had to get away from the noises, and that was why they had to keep moving. If they stopped for too long, there was a chance the crashes would catch up to them. She didn't want that.

"Look!" Monica exclaimed suddenly. "The end of the bridge! We're almost there!"

Rachel heard the excitement in her voice, something she heard when Monica won something, or when she talked about the upcoming wedding. She was glad to hear the tone back, although she found it depressing that it had returned simply to exclaim about the bridge ending. She knew that they didn't have much to be excited about that that moment, but it still depressed her.

"Oh, thank god," Rachel muttered under her breath. Chandler and Joey remained silent, and she could see that they were deep in thought.

They continued to walk, stepping over the bodies with the greatest of ease, none of them wanting to do any further damage to the deceased. Thankfully, there had been enough room to get past any car pileups that had followed the last, so there had been no more climbing for them. Only over the bodies. Rachel swallowed at the thought, but pushed it out of her mind.

They continued to walk, getting nearer and nearer to their goal with each step. She had no idea where they would go after getting off of the bridge, and at that moment she didn't care. Her only priority at that moment was her friend's safety and getting off of the bridge, the newly found graveyard. That, and the discovery of Ross and Phoebe. She worried about them like crazy, but also pushed that out of her mind. If she continued to think about them, she would start to think of all the bad things that could have happened to them. It was better to not think of them at all.

They continued to walk, and finally reached the last steps on the bridge, only mere feet away from being on actual land.

Rachel sensed what was about to happen, mere microseconds before it actually did. She felt the hand go limp in her own and saw his eyes flutter out the corner of her eye.

Chandler stumbled, but unlike Rachel's situation earlier, no one kept him from falling. His limp hand slipped easily from both Monica's and Rachel's grasp, and Rachel had barely enough time to cry out before he hit the ground, his body connecting to the asphalt with a heavy thud.

"Chandler!" Monica shrieked, dropping to the ground next to her fiancé. Rachel and Joey joined her, their faces showing their concern.

"Chan!" Joey yelled, grabbing his best friends arm.

"I'm okay," Chandler said drowsily, his eyes opening slightly. "I-I just…slipped…I guess."

"No you didn't, you collapsed," Rachel rebutted.

"Okay," Chandler murmured, his eyes sliding shut.

"No, no, no, sweetie, you have to stay awake," Monica insisted, panic overtaking her voice. Chandler let out a groan, but said nothing.

"It must be the blood loss," Rachel whispered, glancing at Monica's terrified face. She nodded, glancing at Chandler's injured shoulder.

"I-I just…need to rest for a second," Chandler insisted, finding his voice, although it was weak.

"Okay man, you rest for a minute, we'll just be over here," Joey soothed, then pulled the girls back, away from Chandler. "What are we going to do? We have to get out of here."

"I know," Rachel murmured. "Maybe…you could, like carry him to a car – one that goes of course, and we could just drive…and let him rest."

Joey nodded, then glanced at Monica. She ran a hand over her face, then nodded as well, her eyes teary.

"I-I should have checked his shoulder before," she whispered. Rachel shook her head.

"Don't say that Mon…this isn't your fault," she insisted.

"I should have checked it!" Monica exclaimed.

"He's going to be fine Mon, you can check it in the car…we just need to get out of here," Joey said softly. Monica nodded, glancing at her future husband. She opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by a gigantic crash, just like the ones that had been happening constantly. But this one was different. It wasn't far away, like the others.

This crash was so close to them that the group felt the ground shake. They stared at each other in horror.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here…now!" Joey yelled, jumping to his feet. He pulled the girls up then turned to his fallen friend.

"What was that?" Chandler asked drowsily as Joey grabbed him. He slung Chandler over his shoulders, causing his injured friend to cry out in pain.

"Sorry man, but we need to go…now," Joey gasped, glancing at the girls; checking to see if they were with them. Monica glanced up at Chandler, then sighed.

"We going?" Chandler murmured, his eyes fluttering once more. Monica nodded at him.

"Yeah sweetie, we're going," she whispered. There was an explosion, and Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight away the sense of impending doom. She grabbed Monica's hand and they moved forward, following Joey and Chandler.

They ran, towards the crashes. There was nothing behind them but bridge and bodies, so they ran; hoping that they wouldn't encounter whatever was creating the crashes. Rachel squeezed Monica's hand, and kept her eyes shut, trusting her friend to lead the way. She didn't want to see; didn't want to realise what was happening. All she wanted to do was go home, but that wasn't happening. None of them could go home.

They ran.


	5. Chapter 4

Wowzer! I had a dry spell, but now I'm back and swinging! It's like sex...somehow...you know, you go through a dry spell and then you spend half your time naked in bed with a guy...I dont know what Im talking about...ahem, lets jsut ignore that!

So, I'm back and swinging! Yay me! To R.S. Lee...sorry bout Gunther...it was just his time I guess! I love him dearly and should have killed Estelle...but I can only remember seeing her out of her office once...when she came to see Joey at the play, so I'm not sure if she would actually be _around_ to kill off hehe! And, yeah, like I said last Chapter...this aint going to have a happy ending! I mean, the entire New York City population has been killed pretty much..possibly even the majority of the _world!..._does that sound like it is going to end with hugs and puppies...but Ive said too much!...Sorry Lauren...i still love you! Please read and review...I'm loving your reviews guys! They are fan bloody tastic! Cheerio!

I do not own friends/actors/characters...but I would gladly catch Chandler Muriel Bing if he collapsed from blood loss...although it might be hard seeing he is twice the size of me...not that I'm implying Matt is fat...far from it, he's just a lot taller then me, and his body weight is greatly higher then mine...but he isnt fat...oh, why oh why am i still talking!

* * *

Joey stumbled.

He didn't fall though; he couldn't afford to fall.

Not when he had his best friend slung over his shoulder. Not when him falling meant certain doom for Chandler. Not when he was leading the way for the girls; making sure they kept alive. Not when they had to get away from the crashes; the crashes that they were running towards.

They had no choice to do that though. It was either that or go back onto the bridge, which was a death-trap. If they went back on the bridge, they would be stuck there, with nothing but water and bodies around them. The crashes…whatever was causing the crashes-

_the aliens_

- would get them; kill them. They would join all the dead bodies that they had stumbled over, and Joey would have failed his friends; failed Chandler.

Chandler had been the leader. He had taken over the position without any thought, and had been the one to decide what to do; to drive the car away from the falling buildings and what ever was making them fall.

Joey had followed Chandler willingly, and so had the girls. He knew that Chandler was the best person to make all these decisions. Besides Ross, he was the smartest one out of their group, and Ross wasn't there.

The decision making naturally fell onto Chandler's shoulder, and he had taken control. He had done a good job at it too.

But Chandler was now out of commission. The shoulder that everything had fallen onto – the decisions, the choices, the pain, the stress – had bled too much.

Joey was in charge now. All the decisions, the choices, the pain, the stress; all of that now rested upon his shoulders, along with Chandler's limp body.

He couldn't fail; he had to get his friends to safety. He didn't want to be the one to screw it all up. He didn't want to be the one that failed Chandler. He didn't want to be the one that got everybody killed.

Joey stumbled, but didn't fall.

He regained his footing and tightened his grip on his best friend, glancing around awkwardly to check on the girls. Rachel had her eyes tightly shut, her face pale and tight with fear; gripping Monica's hand firmly. Monica had tears streaming down her face, her worry for her fiancé stronger then her worry for her own life. She glanced at Chandler frequently, panic sitting right at the surface. Chandler was hurt and to her, that was unacceptable. The bag was slung over her shoulder.

Joey panted, the strain of running and carrying Chandler – taller and heavier then he was – tiring him quickly. But he couldn't stop. He had to ignore the exhaustion, the pain, and the sweat that streamed down his face. He had to ignore it; otherwise all would be lost.

They ran, through the desolate and dusty streets. There were few bodies here – still too many – a lot less then what they had seen outside their building. Still within the hundreds though, but nothing compared to the bridge. The bridge was a disaster zone.

The cars that surrounded them were destroyed, completely ruined. It was as if whatever had attacked them had tried to stop anybody escaping quickly.

Tried to stop anybody escaping at all.

They had to find a car, had to get away from the crashes. Had to get the girls to safety. Had to get Chandler to safety.

But finding a working care was turning out to be much more difficult then Joey had anticipated.

The crashes were growing closer, explosions filling the air regularly and loudly. They were close; too close.

Joey stopped suddenly, feeling Monica run into his back. She cried out in surprise, and Chandler let out a moan, the jostling of Joey's body aggravating his wound.

"We can't run away," Joey whispered, glancing around the streets frantically. New Jersey. He had never liked the place. He wasn't sure why, it was a nice place, but he had never liked it. Perhaps it was because he was from Queens. He wasn't sure why that would matter, but it was the only plausible thing he could think of at that moment. Queens.

His home, his family. His ma. His dad. His seven sisters. His nieces and nephews. He worried about them; worried that they had lost everything. Lost more than their home. He was scared that he had lost them full stop. But he couldn't think of that. Just like he couldn't think of his other two friends-

_Ross, Phoebe…dead?_

- being hurt or worse. He had to concentrate on him and his friends; the one that were with him at that moment.

"We can't run away," Joey repeated. "We have to hide."

"Hide?" Rachel exclaimed, finally opening her eyes. "Hide where?"

Joey glanced around New Jersey once more, trying to find a hiding place and quick.

Another explosion, closer than ever, accompanied by another sound.

The group paused, listening to the new sound; worrying about the new sound.

"What is that?" Monica whispered. Joey frowned, tightening his grip on his best friend once more. The sounds grew closer and shadows appeared in the distance. Joey took a step back, panic overtaking him for a moment. He calmed almost instantly and started to run, motioning for the girls to follow. They continued to stand there, their eyes fixated on the shadows, their ears straining to listen to the noise. Joey ran back and grabbed Monica's arm, pulling her along. The two girls broke out of their trance and ran after him, not glancing at the shadows.

Joey had no idea where to go or what to do. Chandler might have, but he was in no condition to offer advice. So Joey ran, hoping that he wasn't about to get them all killed.

They ran into an alleyway, behind a dumpster. Joey motioned for the girls to crouch down behind it and then gently lowered Chandler to the ground, wincing when his best friend let out a groan. Why hadn't they noticed how hurt he had been? Why hadn't they questioned his claim that he was 'fine'?

"W-Won't they find us here?" Rachel whispered, her chin trembling. Monica instantly leaned over Chandler, checking her fiancé intently after dumping the bag on the ground.

"I'm hoping they think that everybody is dead," Joey whispered back. "That they won't come searching for anyone."

"And if they do?" Monica asked after a moment, glancing up from Chandler. Joey didn't answer. They all knew what would happen in that case.

The crashes grew closer, accompanied by the new sound. It was like a chattering sound, almost like a room full of people, all talking at once, except not. It didn't sound like voices, it sounded like…Joey didn't know what it sounded like. He had never heard anything like it in his entire life. It was unearthly, not something that would be found on their planet.

They listened to the crashes, moving closer and closer each second. Joey frowned. The crashes were different, not like falling buildings anymore. It was more like-

_Footsteps?_

_­_- but that couldn't be possible. Nothing on Earth had footsteps that big; that mechanical.

He knew then that Chandler had been right. Nothing on Earth could have done this. Their attackers weren't from around here. They had come from somewhere far, far away, to destroy life on Earth. Joey trembled at the thought, pressing closer against Rachel's quacking body.

"Footsteps?" Chandler murmured, a sliver of blue showing under his eyelids. Joey nodded at his friend, then watched with anxiety as Chandler sat up. Monica helped him, biting her lip along with Chandler. The movement hurt him, but he had to stop himself from crying out. That could give their hiding spot away.

"Are you okay?" Monica whispered, so low that Joey barely heard it. Chandler shrugged, wincing at the pain that small movement caused. His eyes fluttered and he nearly fell back down to the ground, but Monica had her hands on him. She leaned him up against the dumpster, steadying him with her hands. Chandler smiled shakily at her, his dull blue eyes still managing to stand out amongst his ashen face. Joey patted him on the thigh, and then turned away, craning his neck around the dumpster. He didn't want to look, but he had to check.

The shadows were visible once again and Joey quickly pulled his head back, knowing that whatever had created those huge shadows; whatever was creating that strange chattering sound would catch him if he continued to look.

The footsteps shook the ground underneath them violently, causing Rachel to grab Joey's hand. She trembled once more, the look on her face showing nothing short of absolute terror. Joey squeezed her hand, pressing his back even further against the dumpster. He held his breath, knowing that the…whatever they were, were right outside the alleyway. He could see the gigantic shadows dancing on the wall.

Accompanying the ground shaking footsteps and odd chattering were other footsteps, smaller and lighter then the others. There were many of those footsteps, leading Joey to believe that the group walking past was nothing short of an army. A large and terrifying army. Although the footsteps were smaller than the ground shaking ones, they were still twice as heavy as a human's step. Joey squeezed his eyes shut at the thought. Their army was huge. It was powerful. It was deadly. They didn't have much of a chance.

The group sat tensely, listening with bated breath to the footsteps going past. Rachel was crying silent tears while Monica was holding onto Chandler tightly, as if she was trying to protect him with her tiny body. Joey smiled slightly at the thought. She had no hope of protecting him but Joey knew that she would die trying if she had to.

The footsteps, both heavy and light, stopped all at once, and the group froze. Rachel let out a small whimper as the chattering intensified tenfold. They seemed to be excited about something.

An explosion, louder, stronger, longer and fiercer then anything they had ever encountered, suddenly shook the ground and both girls let out small shrieks, which were thankfully engulfed by the thunderous noise.

The crashing continued for a long time, accompanied by huge splashes in the water and the insane chattering of whatever they were.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the crashing stopped. The chattering continued and the footsteps started up once more, shaking the ground again. Rachel pressed her body up against Joey, trembling like a leaf in the middle of a hurricane.

Splashes in the water started up again, and didn't stop for a very long time. The footsteps lessened, the chattering grew further and further away and the shadows gradually disappeared.

They sat there forever, holding onto one another for dear life. Finally, the noises left altogether. There was a collective sigh, and everybody glanced at one another with relief printed on their faces.

Joey edged out from behind the dumpster, pulling away from Rachel.

"Joey," Rachel hissed, staring at him in horror. Joey waved her away, slowly standing.

"Wait here," he whispered. Rachel let out a frustrated sigh then turned away, choosing instead to face Monica and Chandler. Joey smiled grimly at them, then turned and started walking to the end of the alleyway, walking more silently then he ever had.

He reached the end of the alleyway and pressed up against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. He wasn't brave enough to do this. He was supposed to be huddled behind the dumpster. But he had to do this, he had to check. They couldn't stay here forever.

It wasn't safe. They had to get out of here, had to find other people. Had to help Chandler.

He took one more deep breath, then poked his head around the wall. The sight that met his eyes shocked, surprised and horrified him. He stared for a moment, and then pulled back, shaking his head in amazement. He turned and walked back to his friends.

"What did you see?" Monica whispered, looking away from Chandler, who had once more passed out. Joey stared at them, his mouth slightly ajar. "Joey?"

"The…the bridge is gone," Joey finally answered. There was a long silence, the girls staring at him in shock.

"Gone?" Rachel said at last. Joey nodded.

"It's gone…it is completely gone," he whispered.

"Oh my god," Monica murmured, covering her mouth with her hand. "We were just…"

"I know…we got off just in time," Joey said softly, crouching down next to them.

"All those people…" Rachel muttered.

"They were already dead," Joey reminded her. Rachel nodded forlornly.

"It's really gone?" Monica asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Joey sighed, and then nodded.

"That must have been what the explosion was," he told her gently. "They…they mustn't want anybody to get back over there…or off of there…any other way to get off has probably been destroyed."

"Ross and Phoebe," Monica whimpered. Joey bit his lip, desperately trying not to cry.

"We…we can only hope that they had already gotten away," he whispered. Monica let out a sob.

"We barely got away…and we drove! How could they have gotten away?"

"Maybe they drove as well?" Joey suggested, but he knew what he was saying was unlikely. He didn't want to face the thought, but there was the highest chance that their other two friends were gone. He couldn't linger on that though. He had to stay calm, in control.

"We should get out of here," he said after a moment. Rachel looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"W-What about the…the footsteps?" she whispered after a moment, her voice shaking with emotions. Joey shook his head.

"They're gone," he informed the girls.

"Gone?" Monica asked, and Joey could see that she was desperately trying to pull herself together. "You mean…dead?"

"I think…I think they went into the water," Joey answered after a beat. "I could see things moving in there…and the splashes before. They have to be in there."

"They're going back over there?" Rachel whispered, looking confused. "Why? Nothing is left over there."

"Maybe they…have gone to check?" Joey suggested. Rachel nodded, closing her eyes briefly.

"So…we're safe over here now? All the bad guys are gone?"

"Yeah, we should be fine," Joey murmured, hoping that was the case. He knew that, as big as that army had been, there was an incredibly high possibility that the group that had passed them had only been a small number. He didn't tell the girls that though. He didn't want to upset them further. "We just…we have to be careful."

"Okay…we should get moving," Monica whispered, glancing at her future husband once more. "We need to get the hell out of here."

"Yeah…Mon, you grab the bag, I'll grab Chandler," Joey instructed. He leaned over and once more took his friend in his arms, his worry growing. Chandler had paled even more, and blood was trickling faster from his wound then before. He needed help, but they had no way to help him here, besides pressing something against the wound, which would make walking almost impossible. They had to get him into a car, and they could go from there. The quicker they found a car, the quicker Chandler got help.

Joey slung his best friend over his shoulder, waiting for the groan that never came. He sighed, then glanced at the girls.

"Let's go," he said softly. They nodded, Monica slinging the bag over her shoulder.

They moved forward, not running this time. They walked, quickly and frantically, but still walked.

No one glanced behind them, not wanting to see where the bridge had till only recently sat. No one wanted to catch a glimpse of what had destroyed it; destroyed everything.

They walked for what seemed like an eternity, desperately ignoring the bodies that lay strewn on the ground. Desperately ignoring the newly regained crashes behind them, crashes in places they had inhabited that morning.

Joey glanced from destroyed car to destroyed car, his anxiety growing with each ruined vehicle. It seemed that they would never find a car; that they would continue walking until they were out of New Jersey.

Joey knew that was ridiculous. They couldn't walk that far, especially not with Chandler over his shoulder. Joey loved his best friend, and knew he wasn't all _that _heavy, but after a while, it started to ache. Not that it bothered Joey. He would walk a million miles with Chandler on his shoulder if he had to. He knew that wasn't possible, but he would certainly try.

They didn't have enough time for that though. Chandler would surely bleed to death if they had to walk that far without finding something to help. He wasn't losing that much blood, but he was losing enough.

"Joey!" Rachel exclaimed suddenly, pulling him away from his depressing thoughts. "I-I think that car is okay!"

Joey followed her gaze and a grin broke out on his face. She was right. Amongst all the destroyed cars, the ruined buildings, the dead bodies, a single car had survived with barely a scratch; a miracle in itself. Joey wasn't sure how that had happened, but he didn't question it. It didn't matter how or why the car was undamaged. All that mattered was that it was there.

"Oh, thank god," Monica whispered, her voice strained.

"You can say that again," Joey murmured, as they began to walk towards the car; towards their little miracle.

Monica stumbled.

A cry left her lips as she nearly fell, held up only by Rachel's grasp.

"You okay?" Joey asked worriedly.

"Yeah…my heel just broke though," Monica muttered, taking her shoe off. She glared at the broken sandal, and then tossed it away. "I guess I will be going shoeless from now on. We're going to be in the car anyway."

"We will probably have to do some more walking Mon," Joey said softly as Monica took her other shoe off. "You need shoes."

"But they're broken," Monica countered, throwing the shoe. Rachel took a deep breath.

"Wait here," she whispered. Joey and Monica watched as Rachel walked over to a woman's body and crouched down next to her.

"Oh my god," Monica moaned as Rachel took a hold of the woman's leg. "Rach…"

"You need shoes Mon," Rachel said tightly. She gently pulled off the woman's running shoes and her socks, tears streaming down her cheeks as she did so. With the footwear in her hand, she stood and walked back to the group.

"I-I don't think I can wear them," Monica whispered. Rachel shook her head.

"You have to Mon…I just stole a pair of shoes from a _dead _woman! Don't you dare tell me that I did that for nothing," she exclaimed, her voice hitching slightly. Joey shifted Chandler slightly, his shoulder starting to ache once more.

"O-Okay," Monica stammered, gingerly taking the footwear from her best friend. "I'll…I'll put them on in the car."

"Okay," Rachel said softly, wiping her face.

"Okay," Joey echoed. They began to walk once more and quickly reached the car.

"Do you think it's locked?" Monica asked quietly.

"Only one way to find out," Rachel murmured. She tried the handle and the door opened. "Well, at least something has gone right today."

"Yeah," Joey agreed as Rachel pulled open the back door. She slid inside and held her arms out. Joey gently lowered Chandler's limp body into the car, waiting for Rachel to have a hold of him before letting go. He stepped out of the way and Monica slid inside, taking a seat next to her unconscious fiancé; setting both the shoes and the bag on the floor. Joey closed the door and opened the front door, quickly getting in behind the wheel. The keys were still in the ignition.

"Two things gone right today," he commented, turning the key. The car leapt to life and Joey grinned slightly. He shut the door and pressed his foot down on the accelerator.

"How's Chandler?" he asked after a few minute's of silence.

"The bleeding is pretty bad; worse then what it was earlier," Monica answered, her voice tight. "He probably aggravated it when he fell….both times."

"Can you stop the bleeding?" Joey questioned, keeping his eyes on the road. He was dodging the cars and bodies pretty well, with the exception of a few bumps.

"I can slow it down," Monica said softly. "But I can't stop it."

"Well, we have to stop the bleeding," Rachel reminded her.

"I know that…but I can't do it in here," Monica muttered. Joey glanced in the review mirror quickly and saw that Monica had her jacket pressed against Chandler's shoulder. His best friend was still unconscious.

"You can do it though?" he asked. Monica took a deep breath.

"I-I have an idea," she whispered. "I don't want to do it…but we have to."

"What is it?" Rachel questioned after a moment. Monica took in another shaky breath, tears springing to her eyes.

"We have to cauterise the wound," she said softly. Joey frowned.

"What's that mean?"

"We…we have to burn the wound closed," Monica explained tearfully.

"What? Are you crazy?" Joey exclaimed.

"We have to Joey! We have to stop the bleeding," Rachel insisted.

"Why can't we just, like, stitch it together?"

"Do you see any stitches?" Monica snapped, running a hand over her face. "We have to do this…and soon. I don't want him to lose too much blood." Joey sighed. He didn't like the situation, but he knew it was the only way. The only way they could think of at that moment.

"Okay…we should get out of the city part of town though," he murmured. "Try and get into…I don't know, a wooded area or something. Just keep the pressure on."

"Alright," Monica agreed quietly. Joey sighed again, staring out at the deserted streets. Deserted, with the exception of bodies and cars. He glanced in the review mirror once more, taking in Chandler's pale face. They had to do this. They had to hurry. He didn't want Chandler to join the bodies.

Joey pressed down harder on the accelerator.

They had to go faster.


	6. Chapter 5

Hi ya'all! I must say sorry once more for the lack of updates...on this story...Numb has been updated plenty hehe. The problem was...well, I've been kinda avioding writing this chapter because, well, of what I know I will have to do to Chandler. I have a weird fetish for hurting the poor guy, in horrible, horrible ways, and what is coming up really aint that bad..but i so didnt want to write it!

When i came up with the idea it was like 'YES!' I was so excited and happy...then i realised i had to actually write it...not so excited and happy hehe. But I finally got of my backside and wrote a new chapter today...and didnt end up doing the bad thing anyway! D'OH! Oh well, i promise to update incredibly soon! But for now...it's bed time for me! Yowza! Please read and review!

This chap is pretty short too...sorry, but bed time! Love you all, and thanks for the reviews!

I do not own Friends/actors/characters...but if i did, i would have written me in the show as a certain sarcastic guys love interest...would have been a minor at the time, but oh well!

* * *

The stars were impossibly dim.

In fact, Joey wasn't sure whether he was looking at stars, or just seeing things. The stars were nowhere near bright enough to qualify as stars.

It looked as though someone had painted them on, but had run out of glitter paint, and had to use boring old normal paint instead.

Joey knew that their lack of shine had a lot to do with the dust.

The dust that he was sure covered the entire sky above New York and New Jersey. He suspected that it may have covered the sky above everywhere. He had no idea how much of the world had been targeted. He didn't _want _to know.

Nor did he want to think of what the dust actually was. But he thought anyway.

He knew that the dust was mostly collapsed buildings and the result of the ground being disturbed, but Joey had seen.

He had seen the bodies. He had seen some missing body parts. He had seen some missing almost everything. He knew that the guns that the-

_Aliens_

_­_- were using not only cut through people like they were butter, but they also vaporised people. Disintegrated them.

And that was why Joey didn't want to think about it. He knew that he was covered in dust. That he was covered in mostly collapsed buildings, and part human remains.

The thought sickened him, and that was why Joey didn't want to think about it. But the thought remained, taunting him like an obnoxious school bully.

He was covered in people.

The car swerved as Joey struggled to keep his lunch down.

Not that he had eaten lunch.

"You okay Joey?"

Rachel's soft voice calmed his stomach. He couldn't be sick. He couldn't lose it. Not with the girls in the back seat. Not with Chandler, slowly bleeding to death in the back seat. Not with Chandler - looking painfully ill and pale – depending on him. He couldn't lose it.

"I'm okay Rach," he reassured his friend, regaining control of the car.

"You want me to drive for a while?"

"You don't have your license renewed," Joey reminded her. There was a long pause.

"Does that really matter at a time like this?" Rachel asked quietly. Joey considered her words, and then shook his head at his own stupidity.

"No, it doesn't, does it?" he muttered, glancing in the review mirror. Rachel smiled weakly at him. "But I'm really okay…we have to stop soon anyway."

"To help Chandler?" Monica said softly. Joey glanced at the blinking light on the dashboard, the one telling him that he needed fuel. The one that had been telling him that for a long while. The one that he had noticed after they had passed the fifth destroyed gas station.

"Yeah, to help Chandler." There was no point telling them that they were out of fuel. That they would have to walk from wherever they stopped. They would find out later. When they didn't have Chandler to worry about.

But they would have Chandler to worry about then. He would be weak and he would be expected to walk. That was a tall order but Joey knew he would do it.

"We're out of gas, aren't we Joe?" Monica's question should have surprised him, but he didn't. She had always been able to read him like a book. Hell, all of his friends had. He wasn't that complicated.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's great," Rachel muttered. "Chandler won't be able to walk."

"I know."

Joey didn't mean to be short with Rachel, but he was worried. He hated seeing his best friend in pain; hated the fact that he knew that things could only go down from here. They were being invaded. There was no way it was going to end in hugs and puppies. Even if the attackers were destroyed, millions of people had died. Possibly more. That defiantly was no cause for celebration.

And there was the possibility that they would be back. They had come once, they could come again. Or others. Who knew what was out there?

Or they wouldn't be destroyed.

Joey hated thinking that, but it was a possibility. There were so many possibilities; most that Joey didn't want to consider. They could die. They could live.

They could all wake up and find it was a dream.

Joey liked that possibility the best, but he had already pinched himself.

He wasn't dreaming. As much as he longed for it, he wasn't dreaming.

This was real.

They were being attacked.

But that wasn't the biggest dilemma at that moment. It was always there, lurking in the back of their minds, but it wasn't front and centre. Chandler was. Chandler's safety was.

"Joey?"

Monica's voice broke through Joey's complicated thoughts and he jerked. The car swerved once more and he squinted through the darkness. He had the headlights on low, the fear of being seen strong.

"Huh?"

"How much gas do we have left?" Monica repeated, her voice gentle and patient. Joey opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the car. By the car stopping. There was a long silence.

"Never mind," Monica muttered. Joey had to grin at her words. Even though they had both been through and were going through hell, their sense of humor was staying intact.

Sort of.

"Well, I guess we walk from here." Rachel's voice was impossibly bright, like a host for a child's TV show. She was trying to put a good spin on the situation, but it wasn't working.

"No, we rest for the night. In the morning, we walk," Joey told her. Rachel nodded, glancing at Chandler's pale face.

"I-I guess it's time to help C-Chandler then," she stammered, her fake happiness gone. None of them were looking forward to this. Joey was just thanking God that Chandler hadn't woken up, and hoping that he wouldn't wake up. He didn't want Chandler to feel what was going to happen.

"You guys stay here for a moment…I'm going to do a bit of scouting." Joey took a flashlight –found underneath the seat by Rachel – in his hand and stepped out the car. "I'll be right back," he told the girls, smiling reassuringly. With the slamming of the door, he was gone. Rachel and Monica exchanged worried looks.

"This is bad, this is really bad," Rachel muttered under her breath. Monica nodded, staring down at her future husbands pale face. "He's going to be okay Mon."

"I know," Monica said softly. "But…I'm just scared of what is going to happen _after _he's okay…this isn't a good situation. It can't end well."

"You don't know that Mon."

"So many people have dies Rach. Even if we do…I don't know, win, what then? We just get on with our lives?"

"I don't know sweetie." Rachel sighed, glancing out the window. "The stars aren't very bright tonight."

"The dust is covering them…do you see any planes or anything?" Monica's voice was hopeful, but she knew she shouldn't have been.

"No…there hasn't been anything."

"No one fighting," Monica whispered, staring down at Chandler again. "How will we win if no one is fighting?"

"Maybe…maybe they thought that New York was already ruined...that there was no point in defending it. Maybe they are fighting over some other city…like LA, or Vegas or something." Monica considered Rachel's suggestion. It seemed possible.

"Maybe…hopefully." She smoothed Chandler's hair back, smiling when he stirred slightly.

"God, you must be so worried," Rachel murmured after a long silence.

"Yes and no…I know that he is going to be okay." Monica believed her words. She had to. "I have to believe that…I can't lose him…we are supposed to grow old together."

"I know sweetie, I know." Rachel smiled grimly, lifting Monica's blood soaked jacket from Chandler's shoulder. "It's getting worse Mon."

Monica nodded. She was aware of that.

"What's taking Joey so long?" Rachel hissed after a long silence. Monica didn't answer. She couldn't answer what she didn't know. Anything could have happened to Joey. Just like anything could have happened to Ross and Phoebe.

Monica wanted to cry over her lost friend and brother, but she knew that if she did, she would never stop. She had to be strong for Chandler.

Instead of crying, she buried her feelings deep, ignoring the pain she felt each time she thought of them. They were fine.

But they may not be.

"It's clear." Joey's voice cut through the deafening silence like a knife, causing both girls to shriek. "Sorry…it's clear though…I found a place we can spend the night."

"A hotel?" Rachel joked as they climbed out. Joey smiled, placing the flashlight on the seat then taking Chandler's limp body in his arms.

"If only…no, instead we get a nice dank cave." He carefully hoisted Chandler over his shoulder, and then checked to see if they had everything, picking the flashlight back up.

"I've been to a few hotels like that," Monica muttered as she picked up the bag. Joey let out a short laugh.

"Yeah, me too," he informed her as they started walking.

"I haven't," Rachel said after a beat.

"That's because your family is rich." Rachel nodded at Monica's short explanation.

"How are the shoes?"

Monica shuddered at her best friend's question. She didn't need the reminder.

"They're…they're the right size…but I feel so…I don't know, horrible and wrong." Rachel nodded.

"I know sweetie, but you did need something to walk in."

"You know, it's weird but Chandler told me to wear sneakers today…before he went out…I don't know why he suggested that, but he did." Monica frowned, glancing at her fiancée, hanging over Joey's shoulder.

"Maybe he knew, on some level?" Joey suggested. "Maybe you should have listened to him?"

"Yeah…but sneakers didn't go with this outfit." Monica let out a hollow laugh. Rachel glanced at her.

"Yeah, you're right. They don't," she muttered, smiling slightly.

"Here we are," Joey said suddenly, shining the light in front of them. Rachel and Monica stared at the opening.

"You checked for…bears?" Rachel asked nervously.

"It's completely empty…we should be fine for the night." The girls nodded, then followed Joey into the cave.

"Cosy." Rachel's sarcasm went unnoticed by the other two, Monica too busy setting a blanket –found in the car – on the hard ground. Joey waited for her to finish, then set his best friend down gently.

"What do we need?" Rachel asked after a beat.

"Wood…we need a fire and something to…well, you know," Monica said softly, sitting down next to her lover.

"I'll go get some wood…you guys stay here," Joey instructed them.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else Joe," Rachel muttered as she also took a seat next to Chandler. Joey smiled, then left the cave, leaving the flashlight for dim light.

"What else do we need?"

"An unconscious Chandler…check." The girls giggled at Monica's old habit, then sobered quickly.

"Anything else?"

"Water maybe…we got that. I don't know what else…I'm not a doctor. All I know is what I saw on ER, and I was too busy perving on Noah Wyle," Monica explained.

"I miss George Clooney," Rachel whined after a moment. "He was so charming and cute."

"Well…he has a movie career now…you can hire his movies," Monica reasoned.

"Mon?"

The girls froze; their eyes meeting one another in the dim light. They both glanced down to find confused blue eyes staring back up at them. There was a long silence, which was finally broken by Rachel.

"Uncheck?"


	7. Chapter 6

Hi Ya'all, I'm back with yet another installment of this story, and I finally did the thing i didnt want to do! And it...well, it was hard but oh well! Ive done it, its all good...not really! My friend deanne didnt like this chapter:( But once more! Oh well! This chap might disturb some..or maybe it was just deanne, i dont know! Its not like all my other stories arentdisturbinghehe. Thankyou for all your reviews, and please keep reading and reviewing...and remember...keep your eyes on the skies!...I dont know why i said that, i really dont!

I do not own friends/characters/actors, but if there was an alien invasion, I would very much like it if Matthew Perry was the one protecting me...him and his slowly growing, muscular arms... drools...uh, sorry, where was I? Lost my trail of thought...oh yeah! I didnt steal nufin, I'm jsut borrowing!

* * *

Why?

That word was racing through Monica's head, faster and faster with each cycle.

Why?

Why was life so unfair?

Why had this happened to them?

Why couldn't they be lounging in front of the TV, instead of hiding from an unseen enemy?

Why did the eyes that Monica longed to see have to open at that moment?

"Mon?" Chandler repeated, his frown deepening. "W-Where…where are we? Where's…Joey?"

It took a long moment, but Chandler got his answer.

"We are in a cave honey…Joey is getting some firewood to help you." Monica regretted the words the second they left her mouth, but there was nothing she could do.

"To help me?" Monica's words confused Chandler all the more. His head hurt, his chest hurt, his everything hurt. He was trying to think straight but there was a fog in his brain, cutting him off from all the answers he longed for.

"You should be asleep Chandler." Rachel took over when Monica looked away, unable to give Chandler an answer. Unable to explain to Chandler what they were about to do to him. "Go back to sleep sweetie."

"Well, I'm awake now…h-how will firewood help me?"

Neither of the girls answered, and it soon turned out they didn't have to. Chandler may have been confused at that moment, but the answer still shone through the fog in his brain. "Oh…oh! Well, this is going to be fun."

"Would have been fun if you hadn't woken up," Monica joked weakly as she ran her hand over her fiancée's sweaty brow. It didn't surprise her that Chandler had figured it out. He had always been quick, both with wit and smarts.

"I-I never follow the rules, you know that." The girls smiled at his attempt at a joke, glad that he wasn't panicking. "So…you're going to poke me with a…hot stick?"

"Pretty much," Rachel said softly, shaking her head. She really didn't want to do this. Chandler obviously didn't either, judging from the way he swallowed nervously.

"Well, I got some wood, I'm not sure if it will be…" Joey trailed off, stopping in the cave's entrance. "No, no, no! You're supposed to be asleep!"

"I'm starting to wish I was," Chandler muttered. Joey rolled his eyes as he walked inside, placing the armful of wood on the ground.

"Stubborn jackass." Chandler smirked weakly at Joey's comment, watching as his best friend arranged the wood to his liking, then took a lighter from his pocket.

"Where'd you get the lighter?"

"From the car," Joey answered, lighting the pile of wood. The flame flickered slightly, then lit up like a Christmas tree. "Well, as much as I dislike New Jersey, I must admit that they have good firewood."

"I never got why you hated Jersey so much Joe," Monica said conversationally, watching as Joey stoked the roaring fire.

"I don't know either…I just do. It's like my parents and the Irish."

"Your parents don't like the Irish?" Rachel exclaimed.

"My parent's _hate _the Irish! That, and the Post Office."

"Wow…you learn something new everyday," Chandler muttered, watching Joey nervously. Monica smiled reassuringly down at him, causing him to smile back.

"Which piece of wood? The big one, or the bigger one?" Joey asked, holding up two large sticks with slightly shaking hands. He was being casual about this, but deep down he was terrified. He was about to scorch his best friend, with no pain relief or anything. He was not looking forward to this, but he had nothing on Chandler. His friend had started to breathe quicker, looking more and more panicked as the seconds passed. Joey was furious that he had woken up. He knew that God worked in mysterious ways, but this was unacceptable. Everything that had happened that day was unacceptable.

"I-I think the big one will be just fine," Chandler whispered, pressing his body against Rachel's thigh.

"D-Do we really have to do this?" Rachel asked, squirming slightly.

"No…no, we will just wait until I bleed to death, shall we?" Chandler's remark resulted in Monica rolling her eyes. Still making jokes, she thought with a small smile.

"Good point," Rachel muttered, glancing down at him with a look of grief. There was a long silence, which was finally broken by Chandler.

"Are we going to do this, or am I _actually _going to bleed to death?"

"Yeah, we're doing this." Joey placed the piece of wood on the ground for the moment, then leaned over Chandler. "This is going to be the only time I ever do this, you got me?" He didn't wait for an answer, just started to unbutton Chandler's shirt.

"Saucy," Chandler quipped nervously. "You do it much quicker then Monica."

"Keep that up and I _won't_ be doing it anymore." Rachel smiled at Monica's words, watching Joey pull Chandler's shirt away from the wound. She grimaced at the blood.

"It looks much worse then it is," Chandler insisted once more, although the pain in his voice gave away his lie. Monica reached into the bag, pulling out a bottle of water. She unscrewed the lid, then poured the remaining contents on his shoulder. The blood washed away and Rachel grimaced once more. She wasn't sure what sort of gun had shot him, but it had ripped apart his shoulder.

"We're gonna need the bigger stick," Joey said after a long silence, leaning over to pick up the larger piece of wood. Chandler squirmed unconsciously, staring at the wood with apprehension.

"You sure? I mean, the other one was pretty big…won't that do?"

"Sorry buddy," Joey whispered, glancing down at his best friend. Chandler pouted slightly then sighed, nodding his head.

"Okay, let's do this…get it over and done with."

"Alright…Monica, Rach, you two hold him down," Joey instructed. Chandler smirked slightly, his body trembling with both pain and fear.

"Careful…my manly physique might be too much for the both of you to handle."

"Honey, I handle your manly physique on a daily basis…I think we will do fine," Monica teased nervously, as both girls took a hold of him; Monica holding his right, undamaged shoulder, Rachel holding his legs. "I love you."

Chandler smiled at his future wife's words, covering her hand with his own.

"I love you too," he whispered, all trace of humour gone from his eyes. "You…you two should probably close your eyes…I don't want you to see this." The girls nodded, Monica closing her eyes. Rachel watched as Joey lit the bigger stick with shaking hands. He turned to face Chandler, his features white and drawn.

"Rach." She turned to find Chandler's blue eyes boring into her critically. "Close your eyes." Rachel nodded once more, this time listening to him. She closed her eyes.

She was torn, feeling like she was watching a natural disaster, a tornado or avalanche. You try to tear your eyes away, not wanting to see the horror, but quite often you can't. Quite often you find yourself still staring, seeing something you don't want to see.

Rachel didn't want to see this, but she knew that if Chandler hadn't spoken, she would have still been watching. She would have seen something that haunted her for the rest of her life.

However long that was.

"Are you ready?" Joey's voice was small and weak, a stark contrast to the usual confidence he possessed.

"Are _you _ready?" Chandler countered.

"…No."

"Well, neither am I, but don't let that stop you."

Rachel listened to the two boys talk; their voice's shaking with fear and apprehension. She listened to the silence that followed, filled with tension. She listened to Chandler's harsh breaths, growing quicker and quicker as the seconds passed. He was terrified. He was panicked. He was sarcastic. He was everything Rachel expected him to be in the situation.

The silence continued and Rachel had to repeatedly stop herself from opening her eyes. She knew what was going on. Joey was hesitating. Joey was unsure whether he could do this. Rachel was sure that this was one of the hardest things he had ever done, possibly even the hardest.

"So…are you gonna do it?"

Rachel couldn't help but smile at Chandler's annoyance. He was about to be brutally burnt, and he was growing impatient.

"Give me a minute."

"I've given you, like, three minutes."

"This is hard, alright?"

"Oh yeah, it's _so_ hard for you…you're not the one getting a burning piece of wood shoved against their bleeding wound!"

"I _am _the one doing it though!"

"It can't be that hard Joe, it ain't Geometry!"

Rachel knew what Chandler was doing. Joey was hesitating, so Chandler was taunting him. Trying to get him annoyed. Trying to get him annoyed enough that he would want to do it. It was a smart plan, one that only Chandler would have come up with.

"I'm not ready yet Chandler."

"And I'm not regaining any blood here! Jesus, what are you, six? Just do it!"

Chandler's mocking words were replaced with a sound that Rachel never wanted to hear again. The sound of burning skin, closely followed by Chandler's agonising cries. He bucked under her, and Rachel tightened her hold on his legs, feeling tears pool in her closed eyes. She wanted nothing more then to release her hold and cover her ears, blocking them from the horrific sounds. Or better yet, pull Joey away from her friend. Pull Joey and the burning piece of wood away from Chandler, and comfort her friend.

But she didn't do that. She couldn't. So, instead she tightened her hold on his legs, silently crying and cursing who or whatever had caused this to happen.

Chandler's heartbreaking screams and sobs pierced the quiet of the night, terrible and inhumane. Then, just as quickly as they had started, they stopped.

There was silence once more; deathly silence which was soon replaced by the sound of footsteps. Rachel opened her eyes to see Joey running from the cave. The sounds of vomiting followed soon after. She stared out into the darkness for a moment, not wanting to turn around. She didn't want to see Chandler, either in pain or unconscious. She didn't want to see Monica grieving over her lovers' pain. She didn't want to see Chandler's shoulder; burnt and angry. She could already smell it.

She could smell the sickening scent of burnt flesh, made all the worse by the fact she knew what had been burnt. Her friend. A man she cared about greatly. One of her older brothers.

She couldn't turn around to see him like that. But she knew she had to. Monica needed someone. Chandler needed someone. And seeing Joey was preoccupied, Rachel was that someone.

She turned around.

Chandler was unconscious once more. Rachel supposed that was a blessing, although she wanted nothing more than to talk to him at that moment. Check to see if he was okay.

He wasn't okay though.

She already knew that.

How could he be okay after what had just happened? Not only the burning stick, but everything? The loss of his home, his life, everyone else's life. The possible loss of Ross and Phoebe-

Rachel pushed those thoughts out of her mind and gently released her hold on Chandler's limp legs. Legs that had only recently been bucking and writhing with pain never felt before.

"He's asleep." Monica's voice was dull as she stated the obvious. Rachel turned her attention to her best friend, finding her staring blankly at her fiancée, silent tears streaming down her pale and dirty cheeks. Rachel wondered for a moment whether Monica was aware that she was crying. The moment passed and Rachel felt the need to do something; anything. If she couldn't help Chandler, she sure as hell could help Monica.

"It's okay sweetie," she soothed, taking her best friend in her arms. Monica blinked rapidly, shaking her head as though she was waking from a dream.

"How could it be okay?" she whispered, not taking her eyes off of Chandler. "Everything is wrong. The world is being destroyed…everyone is dying. And yet, all I can do is Thank God that they died and Chandler survived. I'm grateful that everyone else died and Chandler lived…am I a horrible person?"

"No Mon, you're not." Rachel tightened her hold on Monica as her friend began to sob. "It's human nature to do that, to be worried about your loved ones and your loved ones only…It isn't horrible, or selfish, or anything terrible. Its…I don't know what it is, but it isn't horrible."

Monica nodded as the tears fell harder still, and finally tore her eyes from Chandler's limp form.

"I-I love him so much!" she cried, burying her face in Rachel's shoulder. Rachel nodded, smoothing her friend's messy hair back with her hand.

"I know sweetie, I know."

She held Monica for a long time; held her crying best friend. Joey didn't return in that time, and Rachel worried for him. Was he blaming himself? She didn't know, but she predicted that he was. She would have gone searching for him but she couldn't leave Monica.

So, instead she sat there, her trembling friend in her arms, worrying about Joey. Worrying about Monica. Especially worrying about Chandler.

She worried that he would get worse still. That he could develop an infection, or a fever, or anything else that could turn life threatening. They didn't have any pain medication, nothing to treat him but water and kind words. If he got sick, he was in serious trouble.

Rachel smoothed Monica's hair back once more, staring at Chandler's blackened and raw shoulder. It had stopped bleeding; their plan had worked. But she wondered if it had been worth it. There could have been other ways, less painful ways.

It didn't matter now. They couldn't turn back time. She couldn't stop Joey from burning Chandler's shoulder; no more then she could stop the invasion of their world.

Rachel glanced from Chandler's shoulder to his now serene face, glad that he had found peace away from the pain, if only for a short while. She wished that she could too; find a way to leave the terror, the concern, and most of all, the smell behind. But she couldn't find that way, so she was subjected to the terror, the concern and the horrific smell of burnt flesh. Chandler's burnt flesh. She couldn't stand it.

She tried to block it out, but found she couldn't. There was no way to block her nose. Instead, she drifted off to happier times; fond memories.

Christmas with her friends. Birthdays with her friends. And most of all, Thanksgiving with her friends. That was always her favourite day of the year because it was unpredictable. Nothing ever went right, but despite that, and despite Chandler's hatred for the holiday, she adored it.

She wished it was Thanksgiving now.

But that holiday was far off; perhaps even nonexistent now. If they didn't get help soon, they wouldn't be able to celebrate it. If they didn't get help soon, they would be in big trouble. She knew that.

Sadly, she also knew that there was most likely no help to be found, and that worried her more than anything.

They were in big trouble.


	8. Chapter 7

Hey ya'all! Geewiz, have I got a quick update...did I just say Geewiz? How lame am I? Ahem, anyway that aint the point! Lets start again. I have a quick update for ya'all! I've been a busy little girl, working my ass off on this story! Now I just gotta figure out 'Numb' hehe...I'll get there! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, especailly Leondra...who I got like a million from! Okay, 4, but same thing! I was kinda sad when you hadnt been reviewing, so i was very glad to get some from you missy! It made my day! Anyway, enough of me blabbing on, i have to go shopping! So, please read and review and I will update soon! Love ya!

Oh and on the Ross and Phoebe subject...they may make an appearnce...they may not! I like to annoy people hehe...sorry

I do not own Friends/actors/characters, but if I did, my life would be complete...but I dont...all I own are my stupid stories! Good enough, I guess

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"There was a Gellar Cup?"

Rachel stared at Ross with a look of disbelief on her face. There had been a Gellar Cup?

"Yes, it was the trophy you got if you won the game. But our Dad said, nobody won that game, and he was sick of our fighting, so he took the trophy and..." Ross paused to collect himself, looking on the verge of tears. Rachel, as much as she loved Ross, wondered briefly why she was dating a man who cried over a trophy. "…threw it in the lake." Her boyfriend finished and Rachel had to stop herself from laughing. It was hard, but she did it. Until Chandler piped up that is.

"And was the curse lifted?"

Rachel let out a small giggle, unable to contain herself any longer. Trust Chandler to come up with a line like that. Ross continued talking, but Rachel had a hard time concentrating. Instead, she was doing her trick where she squinted and her boyfriend looked like Alan Alda. It was a useful trick sometimes, for those times when Ross just kept on talking. She loved him more than life itself, but sometimes he just wouldn't let up. Especially about dinosaurs. She adored that he cared so much about stuff, but it didn't necessarily mean she had to pay attention.

"Once!" Monica's exclamation brought Rachel back to the present.

"Alright, we're gonna play," Ross told them, looking slightly scared of his little sister.

"But wait a minute though, how are we gonna get there, though, because my Mom won't let me cross the street." Monica and Ross stared in annoyance at them as the rest of the group laughed at Chandler's joke. This was why she loved Thanksgiving so much, Rachel realised. It wasn't the food, it wasn't the parade. It wasn't the snow. She loved it because it was her and her five friends spending time together. Arguing, competing, and ruining the holiday in their own special way. When she was younger, her Thanksgivings were always so perfect. Her parents would pretend to be happy, her sisters would pretend not to be brats, and they would sit watching the parade, acting like they were a loving family. Rachel had hated that. It had been such a lie. She knew that wasn't right, that her family weren't really like that.

She hated fakeness, and would have preferred the arguing and imperfections that she got every other day of the year.

With her friends, she got what she wanted. They were exactly like they were every other day of the year. They didn't hide their feelings. Chandler expressed his hatred of the holiday, yet secretly got excited about the parade. Monica showed her compulsiveness by making sure _everything _was perfect. Phoebe expressed her feelings about turkeys being eaten. Ross got excited about Monica's food and the fact that he would be bringing his favourite turkey sandwich to work. Joey ate more then seemed humanly possible and yet was still not full.

And Rachel enjoyed simply spending time with her friends. With the complaints, the compulsiveness, the excitement, the overeating. She loved it all. It wasn't fake. Her friends were never fake, and she adored that.

That Thanksgiving, where they played football, had been one of her favourites. They hadn't eaten proper dinner, instead feasting on the stuffing. They had spent the entire day outside, and even though everything had gone wrong, Rachel had been happier then she had ever been. She longed to enjoy that day once more, to be that happier again. Instead, she was lying on the hard floor of the cave, her body pressed up against Chandler's in an attempt to keep him warm. Her as well, but mostly him. At this moment, his health was much more important then her being warm.

She had slept; restlessly and uncomfortably. Never before had she attempted sleep on such a hard surface. She had been spoilt as a child, always having mattresses and beds when she went on a camping trip. This was a new experience, and one that Rachel didn't enjoy. But there wasn't much to enjoy anymore. Not with the world being invaded. Not with everybody dead. Not with Ross and Phoebe possibly gone. Not with Joey, sitting outside. Pretending to keep watch, but really berating himself. Hating himself for what he had been forced to do to his best friend. Not with Monica, panicking silently on the other side of Chandler, cuddled up to his body as well. Not with Monica worrying so much, and seeing too much. Not with Chandler, unconscious because of a pain that they had inflicted on him. Not with Chandler, possibly getting worse with fever on infection. Not with the possibility of him being the next to die. Or any of them really. But Chandler was her biggest worry at that moment. He was the one hurt; he was the one with more chance of being next.

Rachel didn't want that to happen. She adored Chandler, and she adored Monica and Joey. She knew as much as it would hurt her if she lost Chandler, it would hurt them a thousand times worse. Monica was his soon to be wife. To Monica, Chandler was no longer just her friend. He hadn't been just her friend for a long time, and Rachel had never known two people more suited for one another. To Monica, Chandler was her everything, and if she lost him, she would be destroyed.

Joey was Chandler's best friend and he cared about Chandler more then anything. With this new development - Joey having to hurt Chandler – Rachel knew he would take it harder still if he lost Chandler. He would blame himself for Chandler's death, even though it hadn't been his fault. That was just the way Joey was.

Joey was Chandler's best friend, and his former roommate. Those two should never be separated, Rachel had always thought. Even though Chandler belonged with Monica, she still knew that to separate the two boys would be the biggest mistake anyone could make. No one knew Chandler better then Joey, not even Monica. No one cared about Chandler more, with the exception of Monica. And just like Monica, Joey would be destroyed if Chandler died.

Rachel would be devastated, but her two other friends would be ruined.

She wasn't sure why she was even thinking of this. She had been trying to think positively during all this, trying not to think of what could happen. Only thinking of the good outcomes, the outcomes where the invaders are killed, they survive and they go find a new apartment to live in, one where Ross and Phoebe would be waiting to greet them. She had been concentrating on that.

But every now and then, the bad thoughts would sneak in. And Rachel was powerless to stop them. She couldn't control her brain. She could try, but it was fruitless.

She trembled.

The cave was cold, and they had nothing covering them, with the exception of the clothes on their backs. The blanket was being used for them to lay on, in an attempt to soften the ground. It wasn't working very well. Neither was their attempt at snuggling together. It was helping, but not much.

She trembled once more and a hand rubbed her bare arm gently.

Rachel opened her eyes to find Chandler staring back at her, concern shining in his bright eyes. Brighter then usual, Rachel noticed and wondered why that was. Fever perhaps?

He was possibly sick, most definitely hurt, and yet he was worried about keeping her warm? Monica was a lucky girl.

"You should be sleeping," Rachel whispered, breaking the early morning stillness. Chandler smiled slightly, pulling his hand away.

"I can't," he whispered back. Rachel frowned and sat up slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." Rachel let out an annoyed sigh at his stubbornness.

"No you're not…are you cold?" Chandler let out a short laugh, shaking his head.

"That is one thing I am not, Rach," he muttered. Rachel's frown grew deeper as she remembered his touch; how warm it had been. She reached over and placed her freezing hand on his forehead.

"Shit." He was burning up. Rachel was no doctor, but she guessed that his temperature around 102 degrees – maybe more – and rising.

"Yeah…stay close to me. I'm a portable heater."

"This isn't funny Chandler," Rachel scolded gently. "We don't have anything to give you, nothing to keep your temperature down."

"I know," Chandler whispered, his face now serious. He shivered, causing Rachel's concern to rise even more. She glanced at Monica's still form, wondering for a moment if she should wake her friend up. She decided against it. Monica needed to rest. She could take care of Chandler, Monica needed her rest.

"What's wrong? And don't give me that crap that you are 'fine'. What's going on with that body of yours?"

Chandler let out a sigh, rolling his eyes slightly at her words. She set her jaw stubbornly, not backing down.

"My shoulder…feels like it is still…you know, burning. Like it's on fire," he murmured. Rachel bit her lip, nodding slightly. "My…my head it pounding, my entire left arm is…it's like it is numb, but at the same time it hurts like hell…that doesn't make any sense. I'm hot, but at the same time, I'm freezing. I feel like I swallowed a mouthful of dirt and it's hard to think straight…and no jokes about that being normal." Rachel smiled gently.

"I wouldn't dream of it," she said softly.

"Was that enough of an explanation, Dr Green?"

"Don't call me that, Dr Green is my father…call me Dr Rachel." Chandler smirked at her words, watching as she sat up fully and reached into their precious bag of supplies. She pulled out their remaining bottle of water and unscrewed the lid. "Can you sit up?"

"I'm not that much of an invalid, of course I can." Chandler lifted his head slightly, then squeezed his eyes shut, his head hitting the ground once more. "Okay, maybe I can't…you'll have to help me Dr Rachel."

Rachel smiled tightly, leaning over and lifting his head gently. "You know, your fiancée should be doing this…but I'm not evil enough to wake her," she murmured as she helped Chandler drink. She only let him drink a small amount, knowing that she shouldn't overload his system. Nor should she use up all the water. They didn't know how long they would be out in the woods, without any water supplies. "Better?"

"Feels like I swallowed mud now," Chandler joked weakly as Rachel replaced the lid on the bottle. It was surprisingly still cold; most likely chilled by the cool night air. She pressed it against Chandler's overheated forehead, smiling tightly as he let out a small sigh, his eyes fluttering shut. "That feels much better."

"Hungry? We got…apples and…apples."

"I'll pass at the moment," Chandler muttered, opening his eyes slightly. He watched as Rachel shivered slightly, then shook his head. "Come here." He lifted his arm, pulling Rachel down towards him. She reluctantly lay down once more at his insistence, placing the bottle next to her. "You're freezing and exhausted."

"I'm fine," Rachel insisted, although she was relieved by Chandler's body warmth, even though it wasn't a good sign.

"Now who's the liar?" Chandler smirked, glancing at Monica's still body. Rachel watched him immediately smile and she felt her heart soar. She wished she could love someone as much as they loved one another. "Is…is she okay?"

"She was upset, but that isn't really surprising…she's as okay as she can be," Rachel answered, smiling slightly. Chandler nodded forlornly, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the woman he loved. He smiled at Rachel, shivering once more. Rachel sighed, wishing there was something she could do to help him.

"Close your eyes." Chandler's words echoed that of last night and Rachel had to fight the urge to shudder, the memory of his screams and sob's hitting her with a vengeance.

"Why?"

"You're tired. We need all the rest we can get Rach…and by the look of things, it's only around six thirty or so. I think we have deserved a sleep in…Close your eyes. Go to sleep."

"I'm not sure if I can sleep Chandler…the ground is hard, the situation is scaring me and I keep hearing and seeing things that I don't want to see…Gunther dying, people dying…dead bodies. Shadows against the wall. Footsteps…you screaming. It's hard to stop my mind from bringing those things up."

Chandler nodded.

"I know…thankfully I was unconscious, so I didn't have to deal with that…but I am now," he whispered. "But, like I said, we have to sleep…close your eyes."

It was Rachel's turn to nod. She pressed up closer to Chandler's body and closed her eyes as he shivered once more.

"You're going to sleep too, right?" she asked. There was a pause.

"Of course I am." Rachel sensed the lie in his tone and scowled.

"Chandler Bing, you need the rest more then me…you are going to sleep or I am going to…get Joey to kick your ass," she growled. Chandler let out a small laugh.

"Fine." Rachel smiled, sure that he was going to sleep. Or at least attempt to. "Where is Joey, by the way?"

"Keeping watch…in other words, avoiding us and blaming himself."

"For last night?"

"Yeah." Rachel heard Chandler sigh, but he said nothing more. The silence stretched out, long and peaceful. Rachel couldn't hear anything outside. No footsteps, no animals…no birds. That worried her. It was morning; there should have been birds outside singing. But there was nothing. All that she could hear was Monica and Chandler breathing, Monica's deep and even, Chandler's slowly getting there.

Rachel tried to sleep, she really did. But the things that had been disturbing her all night came back once more. She could see people dying, she could hear Chandler screaming. She could hear footsteps.

Wait…

No, that wasn't in her mind. She really could hear footsteps.

Before she could react, a hand grabbed her, pulling her harshly up by her hair. She let out a cry, her eyes flying open. Holding her was a man she had never seen before, his eyes glaring at her, deep and hateful. There were people behind him, all with the same look in their eyes. Joey was there, a gun pointed to his back. He stared at her fearfully, and then glanced at Chandler as their friend attempted to sit up. Monica helped him and the two groups stared at each other. Rachel glanced at the gun that was now pointed at them and swallowed harshly. She had been right last night.

They were in big trouble.


	9. Chapter 8

Hello! I am soooo sorry, I havent updated this one for a while...okay, a few days, but that is a while to me! I've been working on my other one, because I was getting quite depressed writing all this depressing stuff, so I wanted to work on something lighthearted for a bit. But now that I've had my lighthearted break, I can get back into the heavy stuff (not that I wont continue 'And Now For Something Completely Different' Expect a new chap for that soon!) This chapter is longish, so I hope that compensates for the lack of updates! Oh, and the girl in this chapter, Michelle, I kind of based her on me...kinda. Michelle is meant to be extremely attractive, while me...not so much. So I was going to base her on me...oh, why am I still talking?

Thank you all for the reviews, they are wonderful, and I hope you like this chapter! There are a lot of explanations in this one i think. Oh, and there is something I kinda stole from Stargate SG1...fans of the show...dont upstart, it's a 'homage' not a theft hehe. I love that show almost as much as I lvoe friends. And non fans of the show...well, you prolly have no idea what I'm talking about, so just keep smiling and nodding! Good! Please read and review...only a few chapters left me thinks...bout 5? maybe less, maybe more...we'll see! Please read and reveiw!

I do not own friends/actors/characters, but one day I will be known as either Mrs Carina Bing, or Mrs Carina Perry...its written in the stars...

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"Can we help you?"

Rachel regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Mocking the man with the gun wasn't exactly the smartest thing to be doing, but her brain had realised that seconds after her mouth had spoken. Rachel instinctively cringed and closed her eyes, expecting a slap in the face. It always happened in movies when the stubborn woman shot her mouth off, why shouldn't it happen now?

To her surprise, Rachel's face remained untouched. She opened her eyes to find the man with the hateful eyes smirking at her. For some reason, that smile frightened her more then the gun that was now pointed directly at her. Although the gun wasn't exactly leaving her with a warm, happy feeling.

"Nice gun…rather big though. Are you compensating for a lack of something else?" Rachel's jaw tightened at Chandler's words. He was attempting to get the attention off of her; make them angry at him, not her. Make them more likely to hurt him then her. Rachel felt a hint of anger at his actions, annoyed that he would risk his life like that. She appreciated the fact that he was willing to put his life in front of hers without even blinking, but Chandler had a lot more reasons to live then she did. Monica, for one thing.

Chandler's plan worked wonders, the gun swinging to point at his face. He didn't flinch, instead choosing to smile at the man.

"Hit a nerve did I?"

"You got a smart mouth on you, boy," the man growled. Chandler's smile turned into a smirk.

"I've been told that…when should I have shut up? I can never tell-"

"Chandler," Monica hissed, cutting him off. She smiled cautiously at the man. "Don't mind him; he's just slightly delirious right now."

"See, I don't believe that…I think he is just trying to keep the attention on himself, to protect his little friends," the man said derisively.

"Guilty as charged; I've always been the attention seeker…I read somewhere that perhaps I am trying to make up for my less then loving childhood," Chandler cocked his head at the man, his brow furrowing. "You look like a well educated man…what with the checked shirt, scraggly beard and 15 year old boots…tell me, what do you think?"

"I think you should shut up if you want to keep your head," the man snarled, pressing the barrel against Chandler's forehead. Rachel closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"Or perhaps I should hurt one of your girlfriends?" Rachel opened her eyes to find the gun once more pointed at her face. She trembled involuntarily, but she was glad. Better it on her then Chandler or Monica.

"Perhaps I should shut up then," Chandler agreed. The man nodded then took a step back, lowering the gun slightly. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she preferred dying instead of her friends, she preferred living much more. "But…I think I should be able to ask one question, what with you all coming in here and rudely disturbing our sleep."

The man with the hateful eyes tightened his grip on the gun, but didn't raise it. Instead he let out an aggravated sigh. Rachel almost burst into a fit of giggles at this. Perhaps it was the sheer terror of the situation, but she found it amusing that Chandler could annoy someone _that _much in such a short period. Chandler Bing, ladies and gentlemen. Either you love him or hate him. This man was obviously leaning towards the latter.

"What?" he growled.

"Well, it's already been asked, but seeing you impolitely ignored it, I have to quote my good friend here…can we help you?"

"What's your name boy?" the man asked, anger gleaming in his eyes.

"Skywalker…Luke Skywalker. This here," he indicated Monica, "is Han Solo, the girl on my right is Yoda, the guy in the doorway is Chewbacca and you…well, you must be Jabba the Hutt."

Rachel couldn't contain her laughter this time; letting a small giggle out. The man with the gun was positively _livid, _shaking with anger. Chandler looked quite proud of himself, which only fuelled Rachel's laughter. "Not a Star Wars fan, I see?"

The gun was raised once more, effectively putting an end to Chandler's sarcasm and Rachel's amusement. She sobered quickly, watching with horror as the gun jammed into Chandler's face once more and cocked.

"Chuck, wait!" the man flinched, an indescribable look crossing his face.

"What is it, Michelle?" he said softly. A girl broke through the small crowd and walked up to the man she had labelled Chuck.

"Don't kill them…not until we know for sure," she whispered, putting her hand on his arm. Chuck lowered the gun slightly, and Chandler let out a small sigh of relief.

"Know what for sure?" he asked. The gun was raised once more.

"Can I at least kill this one?" Chuck hissed.

"No, not until we know…"

"But he is possibly the most obnoxious-"

"I find him quite charming," Michelle countered. Despite the situation outside, and the gun that still lingered in front of his face, Chandler blushed. Monica tightened her grip on him, and Rachel noticed the brief look on jealousy that passed her face. "And plus…he is obviously hurt…you don't want to kill an injured man, do you?"

"In this case?" Chuck snapped, but lowered the gun once more.

"Thankyou," Michelle murmured. Chuck smiled slightly, and to Rachel it almost made him look human.

"Anything for you Chelly," he said softly, then glared at Chandler once more. "Names, and I don't want anymore smart ass comments, otherwise I will ignore my niece's wishes and blow you to hell…is that clear?"

"Crystal," Monica piped up before Chandler could open his mouth. Rachel was sure that if Chandler had spoken, the gun would have ended up in his face once more. She wasn't sure if he was being that sarcastic just because he could, or because he was, as Monica had put it, delirious. Rachel had a feeling it was the latter. As sarcastic as Chandler could be, she was sure he would not risk their lives because of it.

"I-I'm Monica, the charming man to my left is my fiancée Chandler, next to him is Rachel and the guy in the doorway…with the gun pointed at him still, is Joey."

"He's your fiancée?" Chuck asked. Monica nodded. "You could do a lot better."

"Gee, I can never hear that too much," Chandler muttered. Monica smiled once more at Chuck.

"He's just a bit…irritable I suppose. Because he is in pain…is there anything you can do to help us? Any pain relief?"

"Besides blowing him to hell," Joey added helpfully from the doorway. Chuck hesitated slightly.

"Please…I don't understand why you want to hurt us…we should all be sticking together at the moment," Monica said softly. Chuck glanced at Michelle, then nodded.

"We have our reasons," Michelle murmured as she walked behind the group. She bent down and Rachel frowned as her head was jerked forward.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Michelle promised. Rachel sighed, resigned to Michelle's touch. She waited patiently as the small girl studied her neck and her lower back, then moved on and checked the other two.

"They're clear Chuck," Michelle said finally, standing up. "Unless there is another entry point that we have missed, but I'm not sure if that would work for them…"

"Okay Michelle," Chuck said softly as his niece stood next to him. He didn't loosen his tight hold on the gun though, which worried Rachel.

"Can I speak now?" Chandler asked after a moment's silence. Chuck looked at him.

"No," he said simply. Chandler nodded, accepting. "But your fiancée can…she seems the least annoying out of all of you."

"Thanks…I guess." A frown had covered Monica's face, and she thought for a moment. "Why did you check our necks? And why were you pointing guns at us? You are the first survivors we have seen, and that sure as hell wasn't what we were hoping for."

"I'm sorry for that, but you guys aren't the first survivors we have seen," Michelle said softly, sitting down in front of them. Chuck motioned behind him and all the guns were lowered, Joey being released. He rushed forward and sat down next to Monica. Rachel watched, slightly amused as the entire group sat down around them. It reminded her of story time at school, but much more different. That story time hadn't consisted of fifteen dirty men and women, all holding guns.

"We've encountered quite a few…hell; we have lost quite a few of our group to them."

"You mean…like, looters and rioters or something?" Chandler asked, all the humour gone from his face. It had been replaced by a look of pain, and Rachel was sure that his adrenaline rush must have worn off.

"No, I mean…" Michelle trailed off, her deep brown eyes filling with tears. "The…you know what attacked us, don't you? What is attacking us?"

"Chan said something about aliens…but that was only a guess," Joey muttered. Michelle nodded.

"It was a good guess…they aren't from around here…we have seen their ships and…and them, and they definitely came from somewhere else."

"We think that they have been planning this for a very long time," one of the men in the group spoke up. "I'm Billy, by the way…these, these _aliens; _they were so prepared and they…they did so much destruction in such a short time. Perhaps if we had…perhaps if there had been some sort of warning, we could have stood a chance…but we had no hope."

"The army-"

"The army is _gone_," Chuck interrupted Monica. "Everything is gone…there don't seem to be any survivors…not anymore. England…England is completely gone, so is Australia. Europe is being quickly wiped out and America…we have no hope."

"You can't say that," Chandler whispered.

"You don't know…you haven't seen the destruction…you've only seen what surrounds us, right?"

"Yes…we came from Manhattan…the bridge was destroyed just after we got over it…our friends are still over there," Rachel said softly. Chuck shook his head.

"Your friends are dead."

"Don't say that, don't you _dare _say that! That is my brother you are talking about," Monica growled, "They are alive!"

"I'm sorry, but you have to face the facts; your friends are either dead, or enslaved," Michelle said softly.

"En…enslaved?" Joey asked after a moment's silence.

"Yes…so far, we have encountered two different kinds of aliens…the big one, and trust me, they are really big…and they also have a kind that…is parasitical, I guess….that's why I checked your necks. The parasites go in through the back of the neck, and they take complete control…"

"The ones that aren't killed are taken over…they've pretty much stopped killing now though," Chuck murmured.

"May…maybe Ross and Phoebe were just…enslaved?" Monica said hopefully. Chuck shook his head.

"I'm hoping for their sakes, that they were only killed…being taken over seems to be much worse than death. You can't move, you can't speak, you can't anything."

"How do you know that?" Rachel asked.

"Because my brother in law – Michelle's father – was taken over…I watched him kill my wife, his _sister, _without showing a single ounce of remorse for it." Chuck's eyes filled with tears and Rachel felt an onslaught of compassion for the man.

"I-I had to kill him…I had to kill him otherwise he was going to kill Michelle too."

Michelle glanced down at her hands, shielding her pretty face with her blond hair. Rachel knew that she was crying.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Chandler whispered.

"It's not your fault…why are you sorry?" Chuck muttered, then glanced upwards. "It's kind of funny really…human's spent thousands…no, millions of years to get to where we are today, and these _aliens _come in and practically annihilate us in less then a day…it's like we shouldn't have even bothered."

"How…how can we beat them?" Joey asked. Chuck let out a short laugh.

"How? There is no 'how' kid. We are screwed. The army fell, the Air force fell, the Navy…we threw everything we had at them, and not a single one of their ships fell…there is no way to stop them…we're screwed. Basically, we are just fighting them off as much as we can, trying to at least do _some _damage before we are killed, trying to leave them with the thought that we didn't go down without a fight…" Chuck trailed off, rolling his eyes slightly. "This isn't going to have a happy ending kids…far from it. You should consider your friends…and anyone who has already died, lucky. At least they got out before it got really rough. At least they got out before…before they could get enslaved."

"So…no chance of taking them down with a computer virus?" Chandler whispered after a long silence. Chuck let out another short laugh.

"Well, you would have to go see Will Smith about that…if he's still alive."

"We can't just give up!" Monica exclaimed suddenly, tears filling her eyes. "No! We aren't going to die, I refuse to! I want to get married to the man I love, have kids with him, grow old with him! I want to see my brother again…he isn't dead, Ross couldn't die!"

"Honey…"

"No Chandler! We wasted so much time not being together, and this just isn't fair! I-I want to…I want to marry you!"

"I know, sweetie, I know."

Rachel's heart ached as she watched the couple, Monica kissing her future husband with desperation. Her future husband that she would never be able to marry.

Rachel had never been one to fear death; she didn't want it to come, but she wasn't scared of dying. But she was scared for her friends. And she was scared of…of being enslaved, as Chuck had put it. She didn't want that. She would rather die then be controlled by something. Rather die then be made to kill others; to kill her friends. She was certain of that, and she was certain that her friends felt the same way. They would much rather die then let any of their friends die. She had known that was the case for many years. Friends like these just didn't come along very often. They were keepers, to the point of death.

Rachel didn't want to be enslaved, and she would do anything to stop her friends from being taken over as well. Better them dead then controlled. As much as it pained her to think that, she knew it was the right thing. She would never let them be taken over, and in the short time that she most likely had, she would do anything to stop that. To protect her friends.

"Do you have any pain relief?" she asked suddenly. Michelle glanced at her, frowning slightly. "Any…I don't know, Morphine? Uh…Vicodin? Tylenol? Anything? Please, if we want to fight these…things, try and make an impression before we go out, we all have to be reasonably healthy…and Chandler is a portable heater right now."

Chandler smirked at this, pulling away from Monica slightly. She glanced up at the group.

"Anybody? Come on people, its not like we're asking you for a prized jewel or anything!" she exclaimed and Rachel smiled slightly. Monica sounded more like the controlled, level headed woman that she was. Rachel had always wondered how people would react in times of stress. She had always assumed that Monica would be the strongest and most in control one of them. She had been very surprised to find her friend quite the opposite, and to find that Chandler had filled that role. For a short time, but he had filled that role. Joey had taken over that role quickly, which hadn't surprised anybody.

Rachel had been surprised at herself though. She had been stronger then she ever thought possible. Sure, she had had many moments of freak outs in the last day, but a lot less then she had thought she would. And now, here she was, ready to fight for her friends. The spoilt princess was long behind her.

"I got some Tylenol," Billy said after a long moment, digging into his pockets. He held out the small packet at Joey took it, smiling gratefully. He handed it to Monica, who took charge of taking care of Chandler.

"I'm sorry I pulled you by the hair," Chuck said softly. Rachel smiled, shaking her head.

"Least we know that it's stuck on well," Chandler quipped after swallowing the pills.

"And you…I'm sorry for the whole…well, everything. You're alright kid."

"Well, that's always nice to hear."

"We're just a bit…stressed out at the moment, as you can probably tell," Michelle piped up, glancing at Joey, who was smiling at her appreciatively. She blushed and Rachel rolled her eyes. It was the end of the world, and Joey was hitting on girls still. It didn't really surprise her.

"So…shall we be off?" Chandler asked after a moment.

"Sweetie, you should rest," Monica insisted.

"I'm fine…nothing like a bit of blood loss and shoulder burning to bring back your energy." Rachel saw Joey flinch at the words, as did Chandler. He frowned, but didn't say anything. Most likely waiting for a private moment, Rachel decided.

"But Chandler-" Monica was cut off by sudden footsteps from outside. Lots of footsteps.

"Fuck," Chuck cursed under his breath, leaping to his feet. "Michelle, you stay here with the newbie's…rest of you, come with us."

"But-"

"Don't argue with me Michelle," Chuck said sternly, then leaned down. "I love you sweetie." He gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead, then glanced up at the group; Chandler in particular. "Take care of yourselves."

"You too," Chandler said softly as both Monica and Rachel clung to him. Chuck smiled tightly, then took one last glance at Michelle before fleeing the cave. "Billy! Leave the bag!" he yelled as he left the cave. Billy shrugged off the large bag he had been carrying, then followed his friend.

The cave felt suddenly empty, as nineteen became five. Everyone glanced at one another nervously, not sure of what to say.

"…what should we do?" Joey asked after a long moment.

"We wait here," Michelle said firmly, flipping her messy blond hair over her shoulder.

"But-"

"We wait here," Chandler agreed.

"How's your shoulder?" Rachel asked gently after another moment.

"Better…it only feels like a small fire now, not a raging inferno," Chandler answered as cheerfully as possible. Joey flinched once more and Chandler sighed. "Not your fault man."

"What?" Joey said innocently.

"It isn't your fault…you did what you had to do. Keep blaming yourself and I'm going to get really annoyed. You don't want me to kick your ass on what could be our last day on Earth now, do you?"

"…you couldn't kick my ass, even if you wanted to," Joey said after a beat, a small smile covering his face. Chandler smiled back, reaching around Monica to pat his friend one the shoulder.

"I know buddy…I know."

Rachel smiled a small smile, glad that Joey appeared to have lost a smidgen of self-blame. He still blamed himself for Chandler's pain, sure, but not as much.

"I wonder what is in the bag," Monica said after a short silence, moving away from Chandler's embrace. She crawled over to the bag and unzipped it. "Oh my god."

"What?" Rachel asked. Monica reached into the bag and pulled out something. A hand gun. Rachel stared at it in horror, then took a deep breath.

"How many are in there?" Michelle questioned. Monica glanced inside the bag.

"Eight."

"At least one each," Michelle said softly.

"I-I don't want the girls to be shooting anything," Chandler protested.

"Sweetie…we have to, you can't always protect us," Monica whispered. Chandler sighed, then nodded reluctantly.

"Okay…hand them out," Michelle instructed gently. Monica nodded, then dragged the bag over. She handed a gun to each of them in turn. Rachel hesitated, not taking the offered gun. As much as she wanted to protect her friends, she wasn't sure if she could actually shoot anything…especially not if she had to shoot a human. Chandler seemed to understand, taking the gun from Monica.

"You don't have to do this Rach," he said softly. She took another deep breath, then nodded.

"Yes…yes I do," she whispered. Chandler nodded, handing the gun to her.

"If you have to use it…just aim and close your eyes, then pull the trigger."

"Close my eyes….okay." Rachel nodded again, staring at the object in her hand. It was heavy; heavier then she had expected.

"Okay…do we-"

Joey was cut off by a huge explosion outside, dirt raining on them from the roof above. The explosion was followed by an onslaught of guns firing, and Rachel dazedly was amazed by how different they sounded in real life. Nothing like the guns on the movies.

"Oh my god," Monica whispered, instinctively moving closer to Chandler. "What do we-"

"Get out of the cave!" a voice screamed from outside, and Rachel recognised it as Chuck's. "Get out! Now! They are-" his voice was cut off by another explosion and Michelle shook her head. She was obviously upset, but she didn't react.

"We have to go…now!" Rachel leapt to her feet, leaning down and grabbing Chandler's arm. She helped pull him up, then shoved the gun into the back of her pants.

"Joey, grab the bag…no, the other bag!" Chandler yelled over the noise outside. Joey picked up the right bag – the bag filled with food – and slung it over his shoulder. Chandler grabbed both girls' hands, while Joey grabbed Michelle's. Together, they ran out of the cave, abandoning their safe house.

"Eyes closed!" Chandler shouted as they made it outside. Rachel instantly closed her eyes. She had learned last night to listen to Chandler when he said that.

The gun fire was closer now, and Chandler was wisely leading them away from it. They had said they were going to fight, but now that it was time to, Rachel had decided that it didn't seem like a good idea. Chandler had obviously agreed.

"Wait!" Michelle yelled. "What about my uncle?"

"He told you to stay with us," Joey responded.

"We can't just leave him!"

"Michelle, if he wanted you to be involved in that, he wouldn't have made you stay with us." Chandler's words made sense, and it shut Michelle up quickly. This may have seemed like the cowards way out, but to them, it was the only way out.

Chandler stumbled, and Rachel silently cursed anything and everything that had caused this. She tightened her grip on his hand, stopping him from falling. He was in no condition to be sitting up, let alone running for his life.

"You okay man?" Joey's voice was filled with concern.

"I'm-"

Chandler was cut off by another explosion, this one closer then any other. His hand was pulled from her grasp as Rachel went flying back, landing on the ground with a thud. Her eyes flew open and she saw the trees above, their leaves nothing but mere ashes now. There were no birds, no animals, nothing. Rachel tried to glance around, to find her friends, but she couldn't move. She was numb; the pain that she knew should have been there was missing. Rachel blinked up at the bright morning sun, looking past the ruined trees. She stared at the sky for a long while, amazed by how blue the sky was out here. She looked in front of her, seeing a shadow in the distance.

And then she saw nothing.


	10. Chapter 9

Well, i nearly killed myself doing it, but I managed another chapter tonight. It's only short, but I only wanted it short. I had a specific ending for this chapter in mind, one that i was going to use for the last chapter, but i didnt want the last chapter to be that long...of that made sense...of course it didnt! Anyway, there is something in this chap for those people missing a couple of certain people...please read and review and please, for the love of god, do not hurt me in any way! I told you this story wasnt going to have a happy ending! Please read and review...and I love you!

I do not own friends/characters/actors but I am working towards making Jennifer Aniston own Matt Perry...they would be the perdect couple! With the exception of _me _and Matt Perry

* * *

"Chan…Chan…Chandler."

Chandler grimaced at the voice. It was annoying. Why couldn't it just let him sleep? He was so tired. He couldn't think of the last time he had been this tired. He didn't think he had ever been.

"Chandler…you have to wake up man…come on man, you can't do this…" the voice was familiar; hauntingly familiar, but Chandler couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was too tired, and too sore. "Monica needs you…Rach needs you…Joey needs you…_Wake up!"_

Chandler's eyes snapped open at the loud voice that was directly in his ear. He stared up in confusion at the face that stared down at him.

"Ross?" he whispered. "How…you aren't supposed to be here…you're dead…or-" Chandler suddenly sat up, backing away in horror.

"Chandler?" His voice was gentle, and Ross looked concerned. So concerned that it made Chandler doubt for just a second. But then that second was over and Chandler was sure. Ross had been taken over.

"Get…get away from me," he gasped, pressing his back up against a tree. Ross shook his head and stepped closer.

"Chan…listen to me. I'm not going to hurt you." Chandler shook his throbbing head, feeling something running down his cheek. Sweat, he ventured a guess. Or blood.

Blood seemed more probable at that moment. He had just been-

What had he been?

There had been an explosion…or had there? Chandler's head was so foggy, he couldn't remember.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Ross repeated. Chandler shook his head once more, closing his eyes at the pain that caused. He opened them again, and was surprised and more then a little relieved to find Ross gone. He wasn't lurking over him anymore. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. Chandler frowned. How was that possible?

He glanced behind him, seeing nothing but broken trees, dirt and rocks. No Ross.

No Monica, or Joey or Rachel.

They weren't anywhere to be seen.

Chandler let out a small gasp, then grabbed the tree. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, crying out at the pain that caused. It would fade, he hoped.

It didn't matter. He had to help Monica. He had to help his friends.

Chandler stood still for a moment, waiting for his head to stop spinning. Waiting, and deciding which way to go. North, he decided. He had no idea why he thought north; it had appeared in his head as if from nowhere. He also had no idea how he knew where north was, but he did.

Chandler took a deep breath, fighting down his non existent breakfast. He turned around, then let out a shriek and fell back down to the ground.

"Sorry…didn't mean to scare you," Ross apologised. Chandler stared at him in horror.

"How…how…where did you go?" he sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Does it really matter?"

"Well…yes, I think it does."

"Chan, look," Ross crouched down next to Chandler, who edged away slightly. He didn't trust this, didn't trust Ross and his sudden appearance. "What? You think I'm going to, oh, I don't know, uh, hurt you or something?"

Chandler frowned at his friend's words. It sounded like Ross, what with the twenty minutes to say a sentence and all.

"Well…not you…that thing that _may _or may not be inside of you," Chandler muttered. Ross smiled slightly.

"There is nothing inside me Chandler…no alien in this body."

"How did you know about the aliens enslaving people then?" Chandler asked suspiciously. Ross sighed, and rubbed his forehead.

"Look man, you have to listen to me, okay?"

"Okay," Chandler said warily, still not trusting his friend.

"You're hurt-"

"Well, thank you Doctor Genius for pointing that out, I would have been _lost _without you!"

Chandler watched as Ross closed his eyes briefly, obviously in annoyance.

"…anyway," he continued, opening his eyes. "You're pretty banged up man. There was an explosion…you got thrown pretty far and got separated from the others. Not by much, but still separated. And knowing you guys, you will start heading the opposite way to one another, and end up in Mexico before you realise that _maybe _you went the wrong way."

"Ross, give us a _little _credit…only Joey would do that."

"Good point…anyway, what I'm, uh, trying to say is, the other's need you Chan. You're the smartest and strongest person here."

"Well, you're here now…you're smarter then me. You can help us…unless you have an alien in you," Chandler looked suspiciously at his friend once more. "Yeah, I'm going to need to see your neck, Mon Frere."

"Chan…you're still the smartest one here."

"Oh, okay Dr Gellar, I guess I got thrown by that PhD of yours," Chandler said sarcastically, wincing slightly. Ross rolled his eyes.

"Okay, maybe you _aren't _the smartest guy in the group," he said tiredly.

"Yeah…you still hold that crown my man."

"That's not what I, uh, meant Chan." Chandler stared at Ross for a moment, confused. He could have probably worked out what his friend was saying on another day, but his brain wasn't exactly very fast today. Probably had something to do with his fatigue…and the possible concussion he now possessed.

"Well, I'm sorry Ross, but I am currently more confused then Joey during a science lecture," Chandler muttered. Ross let out a sigh and rubbed his face.

"Oh for crying out loud Chandler, it's so obvious!" Chandler jumped at the new voice, then turned to find Phoebe standing over him.

"Pheebs? You're here too?"

"Yeah, and I'm getting bored. Can we hurry this up?" she asked Ross. Chandler glanced from Ross to Phoebe, no longer afraid that he was going to end up an alien. He was too confused to be worrying about that.

"Okay…where did you come from?" Phoebe rolled her eyes at his words.

"Well, now isn't exactly the time to explain how babies are born Chandler, you have to _focus!" _she exclaimed. It was Chandler's turn to roll his eyes.

"No, I mean, where did you come from now, but please, don't put off that sex talk. Maybe it will be even _more_ embarrassing the second time round?"

"Oh, now? Oh, I came from…well, I don't know…wow, this _is_ kinda hard!" she let out a small giggle, then stopped as she spotted both Ross and Chandler staring at her. "Oh, so it's okay for Chandler to be clueless, but not Phoebe?" she asked angrily.

"Okay, Chan, here's the deal," Ross took a deep breath. "Me and, uh, Pheebs-"

"We're kinda dead," Phoebe interrupted. "Bummer, huh?" she saw Ross glaring at her. "Sorry, I just thought it would be quicker for me to tell him! You would have taken _forever!"_

"You guys are dead?" Chandler exclaimed.

"I think so…I don't know, this is your consciousness," Ross muttered.

"What?"

"Okay…we're hallucinations. We may be dead; we're not sure because you're not sure," Phoebe supplied. Chandler looked at her.

"You're hallucinations?"

"Yeah…we're here to, I don't know, help you I guess…I don't know, you're the one dreaming this conversation up!" Ross gave Chandler a look of annoyance.

"Wow…you seemed to be annoyed at me a lot in my subconscious," Chandler muttered, then cleared his throat. "Okay…so how are you guys going to help me?"

"Well, to tell you that the others need help, duh!" Phoebe flashed Chandler a winning smile, while he looked at her in exasperation.

"…that's it? I already knew that! And now I've wasted, like, five minutes with you when I could have been helping my friends!"

"Well, sorry for trying to help!" Ross exclaimed. Chandler rolled his eyes.

"No, there has to be something more."

"Okay, here's the deal…you're hurt, you're exhausted, and you're worried…we just thought you could use a friendly face while you sleep," Phoebe explained.

"I'm asleep?"

"Well…yeah…so really, we aren't wasting your time, because you are sleeping anyway, so _you_ are wasting your time." Chandler stared at Phoebe. It may have been the concussion, but that had made sense.

"So, we're, uh, kinda here to wake you up, man," Ross piped up. "Oh, and to say…a lot of bad stuff is happening but…don't give up Chan…maybe everything that happens is for the best, you know?"

"So, everybody dying is for the best? You guys dying is for the best?" Chandler asked.

"Well, death is only the beginning," Phoebe reminded him.

"Uh…actually Pheebs, I don't think that's true…"

"Well, we know _you _don't, Mr - I need to see proof for everything."

Chandler smiled as he watched his friends –his hallucinations – argue. It was a sense of normalcy in the crazy world that had become his life.

"Oh please, there is _totally _proof that dinosaurs existed!" Ross exclaimed.

"What, those bones you dug up? They could be from anything!"

"Uh guys…sorry to interrupt, but I really have to go save everyone," Chandler said softly, shaking his head slightly at the fact that he was kind of talking to himself.

"What? Oh, yeah," Ross glanced at Phoebe quickly. "Well discuss this later Pheebs."

"Oh, I _can't _wait."

"Alright buddy, it's been fun, and I'll see you soon," Ross said smiling.

"Those words just do _not _fill me with confidence," Chandler muttered.

"Aha! You said you'll see him soon! You do believe in the afterlife!" Phoebe exclaimed. Ross rolled his eyes.

"I'm kind of jealous of you man…but I suppose you are stuck with Monica," he murmured. Chandler smirked, then frowned as Ross held out his hand.

"What?"

"Take my hand man."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Chandler grabbed Ross' hand and was pulled to his feet, shutting his eyes in an attempt to ward off the pain. When he opened them again, Ross and Phoebe were gone.

"Interesting hallucination," he muttered to himself, then turned until he was facing north. It still seemed the right way.

Chandler started to run, ignoring the intense pain that coursed through his body with each step. He was hurt. Worse then before. But he couldn't let that stop him. He had to find his friends – find Monica – and soon.

He didn't have to go far. After a short, but exhausting run, Chandler came across a body. He stopped and stared down at the pale face. Michelle, he recognised miserably. He hadn't known her for long, but it still hurt him to see her dead. He let out a sigh, then frowned. Joey had been holding onto her. He was probably close. Chandler looked up and noticed the legs lying on the ground, the rest of the body obscured by trees. Joey's legs. He was still unconscious.

That didn't surprise Chandler one bit. Joey had always been a late sleeper, he thought as he made his way to his friend. Plus, he himself had just woken up, and he had had some help. Sure, it had been imaginary Ross and Phoebe, but he had still had some help.

Chandler stepped closer and suddenly all of Joey was in view. He froze, his eyes taking in the sight in front of him. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't do anything. Well, he could do one thing. He started to scream; loudly and hysterically.

"Where is his head? _Where is his head?"_


	11. Chapter 10

Hey guys! shields herself I'm...uh, I'm sorry if I upset anybody with the last chapter, but I feel the need to explain myself! You see, when I was deciding on what I should write after Climbing the Walls, I couldnt think of anything. Then, one night I had a dream, and I can't remember what it was about, but I remember someone screaming 'Where is his head?" I woke up, and it suddenly hit me. That sentence was the basis of this entire story, I wrote it just to get to that sentence hehe. It's horrible I know, but I just thought it would be a fantistic line...especially with Chandler screaming it! Anyway, enough about that! Thankyou for all the reviews, they are great with a capital fantastic! I hope you enjoy this chapter...it isnt all that long, but it's just what I wanted! Please read and review, and please...stop sharpening your swords!

I do not own friends/characters/actors...but Matthew Perry _will _be mine! Oh yes, he will be mine!

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"Where is his head? _Where is his head?"_

Chandler wasn't sure how long he had been standing there; staring down at the remains of his best friend.

He wasn't sure how long he had been screaming those four words, over and over again. Those four words that would have sounded ridiculous to anyone else.

But they didn't sound ridiculous to Chandler.

To Chandler, those four words meant devastation, death, horror, and heartbreak.

To Chandler, those four words were the most horrific words he had ever spoken. He hated saying those words.

And yet, he couldn't stop.

He couldn't stop, because he knew that if he did, it would get worse. The pain would come tenfold. He would cry, he would scream, he would wail, he would surely vomit. He would lose his mind; lose his head, just like his best friend. But in a different way to Joey. The mental way, not the physical way.

To keep screaming those four devastating words was the only thing Chandler could do. To stop would mean certain insanity. To stop would mean that it was real.

It would mean that Joey was gone; dead, shattered. It would mean that it wasn't a hallucination.

It would mean that Chandler had lost his best friend.

Chandler could look at the body and pretend that Joey was okay. Pretend that his best friend was just resting. His body was normal; perfect, unscathed.

But to look above the body; to look above the neck was something Chandler didn't want to do. He couldn't pretend that his friend was sleeping while looking above the neck.

Because there was nothing above the neck. Nothing but shards of bone – Joey's skull and spine – blood and other things that Chandler couldn't comprehend.

He didn't want to look above the neck, but he found he couldn't tear his eyes away.

Just like he couldn't stop screaming those four devastating words.

"Where is his head? _Where is his head?"_

His best friend; gone.

The guy who knew his better then anyone. The one person he cared about more then anyone – with the exception of Monica.

Joey.

Joseph Francis Tribbiani.

Gone, forever.

No more Joey and Chandler.

No more Joey and Chan.

No more J and C's.

No more J – Man and Channy.

It didn't seem possible. It didn't seem right. It was incomprehensible. As if someone was pulling his leg.

But that couldn't be true. It wasn't a prank. It wasn't a lie. It was possible.

It was possible because the evidence was lying right in front of him. Lying in front of him, missing his head.

It seemed ironic really.

Chandler had always thought that Joey didn't have much use for his head – besides his pretty boy looks. That he had nothing going on upstairs. He knew Joey was smart enough, but at times he had been sure that his friend would be able to live without his brain.

That theory had been put into test, and Chandler had found out the truth.

Joey really _had _needed his head.

Chandler would have laughed at the irony, but once more, he couldn't stop screaming. Those four words consumed him; ate him from the inside and tortured him. He hated those four words, and he wanted to stop. But he knew that he would only stop if something stopped him.

For a moment he wished that he was stopped by death. That something would come along and take his life, so he could be with his best friend. So that he could leave this hellhole, and finally find peace. Find a place where he could be with his friends; be with Joey and Ross and Phoebe.

Death was only the beginning, Phoebe had said that herself. It had been a hallucination, but Chandler had believed it.

For a moment he wished that he could go into the afterlife and be free.

But he couldn't do it.

He couldn't leave Monica.

He couldn't leave Rachel.

They had no one left but him. He was the only one who could help them now.

If only he could leave this spot and go and find them.

But he continued staring at his friend's body; continued screaming those four words.

"Where is his head? Where is his head? _Where is his-"_

Those words - those four horrific words – stopped flowing from his mouth as Chandler got the escape he had longed for. Not death, but something else.

A hand, wrapping around his arm. A hand, pulling him back. A hand, trying to turn him away.

He couldn't turn away, but he did stop screaming.

"Chandler!" the voice was high, hysterical, panicked. The voice was Rachel. "Chandler! Chandler, look at me!"

"I can't!" Chandler didn't recognise the voice, but he knew it was his. It sounded too high. It sounded too much like Rachel's. But it wasn't hers. It was his.

"Chandler! Please!"

"No Rach! He's dead! He's _dead!"_

"_I know! _We can't stay here! We have to go Chandler! God, we have to_ go_!"

"I _can't! I can't leave him!"_

"Chandler-"

Their argument was cut short by footsteps. Not human footsteps. There was nothing human about those footsteps.

"Chandler, we have to go! _Now!" _Rachel hissed, not looking at Joey's body. She had glanced at it briefly, when she had run up.

She had expected it; Chandler's screams had echoed throughout the area, loud and shrill. She had easily heard them and they had led her to him.

She had heard his words and she had realised what had happened.

_Where is his head?_

Only two people could get a reaction like that from Chandler. And seeing he had said 'his' Rachel had realised that it wasn't Monica. Rachel had realised that her best friend hadn't died. Instead, Chandler's best friend had.

She had nearly collapsed at the thought, but had realised she had to be strong. Chandler wasn't strong, not anymore. He couldn't be strong after this, and Rachel knew that one of them had to be.

They had to get out of there.

She could grieve later for her dead friend, but right now, she had to save Chandler. She had to save the one person that she was sure was alive.

"I-I…I-"

Rachel pulled at his arm desperately, the footsteps coming closer still.

"Chandler!"

He shook his head and Rachel knew he was in shock. She knew that he wouldn't be able to turn away. Not without some force.

She stepped in front of him; stepped in between him and Joey. He blinked rapidly, as if he had just realised she was there.

"Chandler…we have to go now or we are going to die," she said as calmly as she could. "And if we die, we won't be able to save Monica."

She noticed the change in Chandler's face and she knew she had gotten through to him. "We have to go now sweetie."

Chandler nodded wordlessly and Rachel smiled. It was strained and forced and completely fake, but she did the best she could. She took his hand and pulled him away; took him from their fallen friend.

The footsteps were getting closer to Joey's body, but Chandler and Rachel were getting further away.

Chandler was hurt; new injuries added to his old one. Rachel could see that clear as day. He was bleeding, and he was stumbling.

Rachel was hurt too, but no where near as much as Chandler. He seemed to have gotten the brunt of the explosion. She was only slightly injured and she wasn't stumbling.

She gripped Chandler's hand tightly as they ran; her dragging him along behind her. She knew that if she didn't pull him along, he would never have moved. She knew that she was the only thing keeping him going; her and Monica.

The footsteps stopped and Rachel knew they had found Joey's body.

"Oh god," Chandler whimpered and Rachel knew that he had come to the same realisation. "_Oh god."_

"Just keep moving Chandler," Rachel gasped, increasing their speed. Chandler stumbled once more, but Rachel didn't look back.

They run for what seemed like forever, until they came to a cave. Not their cave from last night. She was sure that had been destroyed in the explosion.

This cave was different; smaller then the last. Not that it mattered. Four had become two. They didn't need much room. Their four was no more, and the two wouldn't become three for a while. As much as they both wanted to save her, neither were in any condition to go looking for Monica.

Rachel gently pushed Chandler forward and he entered the cave. She glanced behind her and then followed him.

Chandler was on his knees, staring blankly at the wall. She let out a small sob, the memory of Joey's body hitting her.

She had wanted to pretend, for just a second, that it wasn't Joey. That it was some other man, someone who had been wearing the exact same clothes as their friend. But she had seen and heard Chandler's reaction. And she had seen the bag-

The bag.

They should have taken it with them.

It was too late now though.

Rachel took a step forward, another sob leaving her lips. She swallowed her tears quickly. She couldn't cry. One of them had to be strong. And Chandler was in no condition.

"Chandler-"

"It was _gone _Rach," Chandler whispered, not taking his eyes off the wall. It was almost as if he was still staring at Joey's body. "His…_his head!"_

Rachel winced as Chandler keeled forward. She rushed over and rubbed his back as he vomited.

After what seemed like forever, Chandler leant back against her. He was crying now.

No.

Not crying.

That didn't seem like the right word.

Rachel had thought that the worst noise she had ever heard was last night; the sound of Chandler screaming with pain as he was burnt.

She had been wrong.

The sound she was hearing now was much worse. It was still in pain, but it was a different sort of pain. That pain from last night had faded. Rachel knew that this pain would never fade.

She held Chandler tight as he cried, as he screamed, as he wailed.

She held him tight as he grieved for the loss of his best friend.

And even though she was meant to be strong, a few tears slipped out.

Those few tears soon became a river and Rachel started to wail along with Chandler.

They clung to each other as they grieved for their lost friend.


	12. Chapter 11

Wow. Suddenly I don't feel very safe in my own home, with fashion hottie trying to track me down hehe. I really am sorry for what I did but hey! Least I didn't write for the show! Joey lives on in real life...I guess that's something..who am I kidding, that's nothing! I'm sorry I killed him, but...but at least he is with Ross and Phoebe now! hehe, thankyou for all your wonderful reviews! They were great, if a little scary! I still am picturing you all sharpening your knives and going on a witch hunt for me haha, but oh well! Please read and review and please enjoy! Oh, and Chan4Mon4Eva4Eva...I sleep veeeeeeeeeeeery well hehe.

I do not own friends/actors/characters, but I wouldnt mind a grieving Chandler in _my _arms!...even though it would mean that he was upset...and that would make _me _upset:(

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"Here."

Rachel held out a stick of gum that she had salvaged from her pocket.

Chandler stared at it blankly for a moment then took it. "Thanks," he said dully, unwrapping the stick. Rachel watched as he put it in his mouth, then wrapped her arms around him once more. She needed to feel the comfort that their embrace gave her. She needed to feel it otherwise she knew she would start crying yet again.

She couldn't cry; not again. It had taken her so long to stop earlier, almost as long as Chandler.

They had cried for the better part of the hour.

Rachel had been the first one to stop, knowing that she had to. Knowing that she couldn't continue to cry. Not when Chandler needed her.

She had continued to hold him as he cried, as he wailed, as he screamed. Gradually his agonised cries had turned into pained sobs, and then disappeared altogether.

It had taken him a while to sit up; to move, but Chandler had done it. He had sat up, pulled away from Rachel and given her a blank look. That look hadn't left his face since.

Rachel was sure that her heart had been broken countless times in the short period that they had been in the cave. Not only because of Joey, but because of the pain that Chandler was feeling. She had been devastated over the loss of Joey, sure, but she could not begin to think what Chandler was going through at that moment.

That look on his face; that lost, blank look, had been the cause for the majority of those heartbreaks. She wanted to help Chandler, more then anything. Wanted to get that broken look off of his face and replace it with a smile. He didn't look right without a smile.

"We have to find Monica."

Even his voice was different. There was no happy note in his voice anymore. There really wasn't anything. His voice sounded as lifeless as he looked.

Rachel sighed, pulling him closer. She wanted to make the pain go away. Not just his pain, but hers as well. Hers, Joey's, everyone's. She wanted everything to be like it was before. For the six of them to sit on the couch, drinking their daily coffee as Gunther waited on them hand and foot. She wanted the world to not be ending, but for it to be alive and thriving, free of all the pain. Free of all the destruction. Free of all the chaos.

But that wasn't going to happen. Rachel realised that. They had no hope. There was nothing she could do; no way for her to save the planet.

The only thing she could do was save Chandler and possibly Monica. But Monica wasn't around now, so she only had Chandler to worry about for the moment.

She was going to look after him; take care of him as much as she could. Not only for her own self gratification, but for Joey's as well. He would have done the same in this situation, but he wasn't around anymore, so it had fallen on her and Monica's feet.

And as Monica was still gone, it was up to Rachel.

She was going to do everything in her power to take care of her friend; to look after him for as long as they had on this doomed planet.

"We have to find Monica," Chandler said again. Rachel heard his voice crack as he said Monica's name and she knew what he was thinking.

What if they found Monica in the same state as they had found Joey?

It wasn't something that Rachel wanted to even consider, but she couldn't seem to stop. It was a possibility.

"I know…we'll go in a minute," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his temple.

"I saw Ross and Phoebe…in my dream…Joey…Joey is with them now."

Rachel pulled Chandler closer still, briefly shutting her eyes against the tears that threatened.

"Yeah…at least they're together," she murmured. Chandler nodded, closing his eyes. Rachel watched him for a moment, wondering if he was going to cry again.

No.

She was sure that he had cried all his tears.

He had done his grieving for Joey and now he had his fiancée to think about.

"It's been a minute," he whispered a moment later. A small smile crossed Rachel's face and she nodded.

"You're right. In fact, I think it has been two."

"We better get going then."

Rachel nodded again then gently pulled away from her friend. He glanced at her briefly, then turned his head away. Rachel's maternal instincts came forth instantly as she got a good look at his face. She touched his head gingerly; scowling slightly at the long cut that ran down his temple.

He was hurt.

She had forgotten that.

She had been so preoccupied, and she had completely forgotten.

"Maybe I should check you out first?" she suggested, but Chandler had already begun shaking his head, before she could get the third word out. "You are pretty hurt sweetie."

"I'm fine…we're going." Chandler's voice left no room for discussion, but Rachel still went to protest. Her objection was cut off when Chandler climbed to his feet. It was obvious that he was going, whether or not she agreed. Scowling slightly, she joined him, feeling the gun dig into her back slightly. She had almost forgotten it was there.

"Are you going to be okay?" she couldn't help but ask. It was a ridiculous question really. Chandler had just seen his best friend's body first hand, his future wife was missing and he had more injuries then Manhattan had McDonalds.

"We have to find Monica."

Rachel sighed then nodded. He was deftly avoiding the question, but she wasn't going to push it. Instead she took his hand and started towards the entrance. Chandler tried to pull his hand away, but Rachel kept her grip tight.

"If you won't let me check you over, the least you can do is let me keep a hold of you," she muttered. Chandler sighed, but didn't struggle again.

They walked, hand in hand with Chandler occasionally stumbling, into the open. Rachel listened intently for the sound of footsteps and was happy to find that there were none. That was less complications for them.

"What way do you think?" she asked after a while. Chandler bit his lip and glanced around a couple of times. Rachel watched his eyes flutter from the quick movement and tightened her grip on his hand as his knees buckled slightly.

"I'm fine," he muttered before she could say anything. Rachel rolled her eyes, but didn't comment. "Which way?"

"I just asked that."

"And I'm just considering….I really have no idea…where the hell are we?" Chandler glanced around again.

"We…we ran for a while…we ran from that direction." She pointed to the left of them.

"So that is where we want to go."

"Why?"

"Because that was the way we came from…that was where we were when the explosion happened…that is the most likely place that Monica will be," Chandler said, his voice showing the first sign of emotion since he had stopped crying. His words made sense and Rachel found herself nodding.

"Good point," a thought occurred to her and she bit her lip. "But if we go that way, won't we end up…where…you know…"

"We…we won't end up there…trust me." Rachel nodded again. Chandler didn't want to see Joey anymore then she did. He wouldn't let them get back there.

They began to walk, neither talking. There wasn't really anything to talk about.

"What time is it?" Chandler asked finally. Rachel checked her watch, frowning at the time.

"My watch says that its 3:22…but that can't be right…can it?"

Chandler frowned, and then nodded.

"Yeah…I guess it must be. Time goes quickly when…"

"When you're having fun?" Rachel supplied. Chandler smirked slightly and shook his head.

"I don't consider any of this fun Rach."

"Yeah…me neither."

Silence passed over them once more and they continued walking, Chandler stumbling every now and then. With each slip of his foot, Rachel cursed silently. This just wasn't fair. Nothing was fair anymore.

"Do you hear that?" Chandler whispered, stopping in his tracks. Rachel tensed immediately, straining her ears for any signs of footsteps. Instead, she heard the sound of running water. A small smile appeared on her face and she glanced at Chandler.

"Thirsty?" she asked. Chandler smiled back, although it didn't reach his eyes. He nodded and they started towards the sound.

"Monica would head for water," he said after a moment. Rachel considered this then nodded. It sounded right. She knew that if she was alone in the wild, water would be the first thing she would look for.

"Maybe we might have to cut our search short?" she said softly. Chandler smiled again.

"Hopefully."

They continued to walk, the sound of water growing closer and closer by the second. Finally, water became visible through the trees. Rachel smiled slightly. She hadn't realised just how thirsty she was until that moment. They continued to walk until they reached the waters edge.

"Oh thank god," Rachel whispered as she crouched down; taking the gun from her pants and laying it on the grass. Chandler followed her and they both plunged their hands into the water.

As Rachel drank, she glanced up and frowned. There was something floating in the distance.

"What's that?" she murmured, more to herself then Chandler. But Chandler heard her and followed her gaze. A sudden gasp left his mouth and he pulled her away from the river's edge.

"Close your eyes Rach," he hissed, letting her go. Rachel did as he said.

"Why? What is it Chandler?"

"It's…its nothing." Rachel sighed at his stubbornness.

"Chandler…I think I have seen the worst I can today," she muttered, then opened her eyes. Immediately she wished she hadn't.

"Oh…oh my god," she whimpered, staring in horror at the water. Specifically, what was in the water. The thing she had been looking at had floated closer and it had been followed by many others.

Bodies.

So many bodies.

She tried to look away from the massacre, but she couldn't.

The river was filled with people. Dead people.

She felt the urge to throw up, but found she couldn't.

"Oh my god," she said again. Chandler said nothing and Rachel managed to turn away from the massacre to look at him. He was staring at the bodies blankly. She curled her hand around his then glanced back at the river.

Rachel heard the noise a split second before she felt it. But she didn't have time to react; time to turn around.

A split second wasn't much.

A boot hit her square in the back and Rachel barely had time to cry out before she hit the water, her hand slipping from Chandler's.

Chandler leapt to his feet and whirled around, only to find himself face to face with the barrel of a gun. He stared in horror; not at the gun, but at the person holding the gun. He glanced into the large blue eyes; blues eyes that had once been filled with compassion and love, but were now filled with pure hate.

"Monica," he whispered, but knew it wasn't true.

This wasn't Monica.

Not anymore.


	13. Chapter 12

Wow...hehe I have to say, a few of your reviews made me laugh! So many threats and so much anger...but all finishing with wonderful wonderful words and people saying that they can't seem to stop reading this...I'm glad that you can't stop! It's making me happy...but I am truly sorry for killing...people. I did say early on that this wasnt going to be a happy story! And Leondra...I am going to write a happy ending for a story one day! I will! Hopefully for Numb...maybe! Which I will update one day.

I've decided that I may just concentrate on this story until I finish it...which should be in a couple of chapters! I want to get this done and then I can fully focus on my other fics...so if I dont update my other stories for a couple of days...well, its because I am working so hard on this one! You should all be happy! But yes, i think that this will probably only have...hmm, 2 chapters left?

Oh, and to writerchic...no, we arent going to hear any more about Ross and Phoebe...I decided to leave that all to the imagination! You cant make up your own little side story for them if you like! And yes...I am an incredibly twisted person...but incredibly happy in real life! I am only depressing in my writing...gotta vent somewhere hehe!

Anyway, bed time for me! I will update very soon, I promise! This chap is only short, but...once more, thats how I wanted it! Please read and review while I continue the madness.

I do not own friends/characters/actors, but I am sure that Matt Perry will protect me from all you crazy murderous fans!

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"Aren't you going to fight me?"

The voice that said those six words was so familiar, but at the same time so foreign. It was Monica's voice, but it wasn't.

Chandler had never heard Monica's voice like that. Never heard it so cold, so ruthless, so unloving. Her voice had never been like that.

But then, this wasn't Monica. Not anymore.

"No," Chandler answered simply. He couldn't fight her. Even though it wasn't Monica anymore, he still couldn't fight her.

"Why not? You could easily knock this gun from my hand and reach behind you. I know you have a gun tucked into your pants. You could easily kill me. Why don't you?"

"I could never hut Monica. I would much rather be dead then hurt her."

"Humans," she sneered. "They are consumed by their feelings." There was a pause, as Monica's familiar yet foreign eyes studied him. "Give me your gun."

Chandler reached behind him and took the gun out of his pants, then handed it to her wordlessly. She tucked it into her pants, never once letting her own gun waver.

"You claim you could never hurt her, but do you not think it would be better for her to die? Better then to be controlled for the rest of her pathetic life. Never moving, never speaking, never living. You care for her so much, yet you cannot put her out of that misery?"

When Chandler said nothing, she smiled; a sneer that made Chandler's stomach lurch. That was not a look that should ever have adorned Monica's face. She was too beautiful to contort her face in such a hideous way.

"We heard you screaming," she continued, the sneer still adorning her face. "She was so worried for you. She worries for you now. She sees all your injuries and your pain, and it tears her apart. She wants to hold you, help you…kiss you-"

"Stop it," Chandler snapped, shaking his head slightly. She cocked her head, her smile growing wider.

"She is pleading with me…pleading for your life. She is begging that I don't kill you…anyone but you. She has already felt so much pain…we saw Joey's body." Chandler bit his lip, a desperate attempt to keep the tears from coming. "She was devastated, naturally. Not just because of the pain that she was feeling at that moment. Not just because of the mess that Joey was…all that blood and bone and bra-"

"Please," Chandler whispered, feeling a tear slip down his cheek. He didn't want to remember. She smirked.

"She was devastated because she that you had seen the body as well…she knew that you were in so much pain over it. She was devastated. Just as she is devastated right now, knowing that Rachel is drowning among a sea of bodies…she hasn't resurfaced yet, and it has been a long time. Her best friend is drowning, and she saw her other friend without a head…but neither of those two compare to you Chandler. None of that compares to the pain she will feel when she watches you die, knowing that is was her hand that killed you. You would let her live like that; live in complete agony and devastation for the rest of her life…for so many years to come?"

"I-I…I can't…I can't do it," Chandler whispered, feeling more hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "I can't do it…don't ask me to do it. I can't hurt Monica."

"But I'm not her Chandler."

"But you are…you look like her…she is still in there, I would still be killing her, along with you…I can't do it."

"Weak…so weak," she motioned with her gun. "Walk."

Chandler walked past her, away from the rivers edge. He stopped and turned to face her, keeping his eyes on her; keeping his eyes on the mask that the alien wore. The mask that belonged to the woman he loved. He didn't look at the river. He didn't want to think of Rachel in there, drowning amongst all those bodies.

"She is crying Chandler; yelling at me. Using words that I have never heard before…harsh words that interest me," she smiled. "She is in so much pain…so consumed by her feelings for you. So weak."

"You're wrong. That doesn't make us weak. It's what makes us strong. We are willing to die for the ones we love; kill to save people we care about. That doesn't make us weak, it makes us strong. It's what makes us the superior race."

"Perhaps on this planet…but not anymore. We are the superior race now, because we are not weak. You're words are ridiculous."

"Maybe so, but it's what I believe."

She laughed, cocking the gun with a smug smile. Chandler flinched, but didn't take his eyes off of hers.

"Pathetic…there are memories of you telling them to close their eyes…I suggest that you do the same."

Chandler nodded, but continued to stare at the cold eyes in front of him.

"I'm sorry Mon…I love you." He closed his eyes, not seeing the spasm of her face.

"She…she heard you…she is fighting me. But she isn't going to win. She says she understands…that she could never hurt you either. Not that it matters. She is going to hurt you. She is going to kill you. She is going to do that because I am…I may control the body now, but it is still he-"

Her words were cut off by a deafening sound. The harsh noise was repeated twice more.

Rachel opened her eyes to see Monica fall to the ground, three bullet holes in her back. She lowered the gun with shaking hands, then let it drop to the ground once more. Her gaze went from Monica's body to Chandler's face. He was staring at Monica, his face and clothes sprayed with her blood. Rachel stared at him for a long while; stared at his blank face. She shivered, water dripping down her neck. She was soaked head to toe, but it didn't matter. It was like an afterthought. Her being wet was not a concern at that moment.

"You listened to me," he said finally, his voice tedious. "Close your eyes and shoot…you listened to me."

"I always listen Chandler," she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I may not seem to hear you, but I always listen." Chandler nodded, then kneeled down next to Monica. Rachel watched as he touched her hair gingerly, his face still blank.

She felt numb. She knew what she had just done. She had just killed her best friend.

No.

Her best friend had already been dead.

That wasn't true either.

But Rachel knew Monica; knew what she would have wanted. Monica would never have wanted to go on living, not being able to control herself. She would never have wanted for Chandler to die; for Chandler to be killed by her own hands.

Rachel knew that Monica would have wanted this, but she was still unsure. She had still just killed her best friend. She had done it to save Chandler, but she had still shot Monica.

Rachel was glad she was numb.

Otherwise that fact would have shattered her.

"You did the right thing Rach." Chandler's voice brought her out of her numb reverie and she looked down to see him touching Monica's engagement ring.

"Are you so sure of that?" Rachel whispered. Chandler nodded, never once taking his eyes off of his dead fiancé.

"She would have been trapped otherwise…she would have wanted this."

Rachel walked over and sat down next to Chandler, touching his shoulder gingerly.

"I know…"

"She would have wanted this," Chandler repeated and Rachel could still see the blank look in his eyes. She was sure that the same look was in her eyes. The look of shock.

"She would have wanted this," Rachel agreed softly, looking down at Monica's face. She looked so peaceful, like she was asleep. But Rachel knew that wasn't true.

She wasn't asleep, she was dead.

Rachel was so thankful that she was numb at that moment, but she knew that it wouldn't last. Neither would Chandler's seemingly apparent numbness.

In fact, it disappeared moments later, replaced with a sob.

Chandler pulled his shaking hand away from Monica and covered his mouth with it. He fell back slightly and the heart wrenching sobs from earlier returned.

"Why? Why couldn't it have been me?" he cried, his words almost impossible to understand through his sobs. "Why can't she stay?"

Rachel had lost count of how many times she had wrapped her arms around Chandler that day, but she did it once more.

"She's with everyone else now," she soothed.

"I don't care!" Chandler screamed. "Why can't she be with me? She's dead!"

Rachel tightened her grip around him as the sobs became harsher and pressed her lips against his brow. A lone tear fell down her cheek, but she knew that it would be the only one. She wasn't going to cry. To cry, she would have to feel something.

And she wasn't at that moment.

Rachel had a feeling that she wouldn't feel anything for the rest of her life – however short that time was.

She had killed her best friend.

That was something she couldn't deal with.


	14. Chapter 13

Wow...I feel so loved at the moment, what with all the anger! hehe, sorry, sorry, but I aint going to change this story, because I got it all planned out in my head! Anyway, this is the second to last chapter...and it really isnt anything too special...I just wanted a nice chapter with a lot of talking between two friends, so this is what I wrote! I hope you all enjoy it and are getting yourselves worked up for the final chapter! It will be up very soon, I promise!

Love you all, even if you all dont love me at the moment haha!

I do not own friends/characters/actors, but I do love Monica, Joey, Ross and Phoebe...and I am sorry for killing them!

* * *

The silence stretched on.

Neither of them had spoken in what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them wanted to speak. They knew what would happen after one of them spoke. They knew that if one of them spoke, they would soon have to leave. And they weren't ready to leave.

Not yet.

The silence stretched on, both staring at Monica blankly. Both holding on to one another desperately. Both consumed by a million thoughts at once, but unable to understand any of those thoughts.

The sun was beginning to set, Rachel noticed.

"It's getting dark," she finally spoke. Chandler jerked slightly, and Rachel wondered if she had scared him.

"Yeah," he agreed softly, tearing his eyes away from Monica to look at the sky. "Must be getting late." Rachel nodded, pressing her forehead against his cheek.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered. Chandler shook his head, feeling her messy hair against his chin.

"I don't know Rach…my only plan was to find Mon and…" he trailed off, turning his head away. Rachel's chin trembled, and she reached up a hand to touch his cheek. She turned his face towards her, noticing the tears in his eyes.

"We found her."

"I can see that," Chandler murmured, pulling his head away from her grasp.

"We did the right thing…you said it yourself."

"I know."

"Monica wouldn't have wanted us to sulk." Rachel offered Chandler a shaky smile. "She would tell us to get off our asses and go do something; anything."

"I know that too," Chandler sighed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "She would have been yelling at me by now." Rachel watched him smirk, and for a moment felt as though things were back to normal. Chandler was smirking; she could pretend it was out of happiness. Monica's body caught her eye and it ruined her illusion.

"What are we going to do?" she asked again. There was a long pause as Chandler stared at Monica's body. Rachel could see the complete desolation in his eyes, but she also saw something else. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that Chandler was desperately trying to move on.

"I don't want to leave her out in the open like this," Chandler said finally. Rachel nodded.

"Me neither."

"But I…I can't…even if I could…there is nothing to…bury her with." Chandler bit his lip, staring dejectedly at the ground beneath them. Rachel nodded once more.

"I know…how…"

Chandler lifted his head after a long moment and glanced at the water in front of them. Rachel followed his gaze.

"Chandler-"

"Its better then nothing!" Chandler snapped suddenly. "It's better then leaving her…out here where…where anything could…" he trailed off, turning away once more. A moment passed and he looked back up, composed once more. "It's better then nothing Rach."

"I know…"

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Chandler nodded, glancing down at Monica's peaceful face. He reached out a hand and touched her raven hair.

"She's so beautiful," he murmured. Rachel nodded.

"Yeah…she is," she agreed. Chandler smiled slightly, then reached over and gathered Monica's limp body in his arms. Rachel watched as Chandler stood, then climbed to her feet as well. She followed him wordlessly to the river's edge, then stood next to him as they both hesitated.

"All the bodies are gone," Chandler noted after a stretched out silence. Rachel glanced at him through the dim light and watched him stare down at his dead fiancée.

"Any time you're ready Chandler," Rachel whispered. Those words were usually reserved for sarcasm, but on that day, there was no disdain in her voice. Chandler nodded, then pressed his lips against Monica's pale forehead. He then knelt down, carefully holding Monica in his arms. Rachel watched as Chandler lay Monica in the water; watched as he whispered something that only he and God could hear. Rachel was pretty sure what those three words were, and it tore at her heart. She had been the one to take her away from him. Sure, the alien had overtaken her body, but Rachel had been the one to fire the gun.

Fire the gun to save Chandler, she reminded herself as Chandler stood to his feet, moving in closer to her.

Rachel found Chandler's hand and gripped it, smiling slightly as she felt his fingers curl around hers. There was a special bond that two people shared when everyone around them; everyone they loved, had died. Rachel had hoped never to have that bond with anyone; hoped that she would never lose everyone she cared about.

But she had, with the exception of the man standing next to her.

"We're all alone now," Chandler whispered, as if reading her mind. It was possible, Rachel thought suddenly. Maybe their bond had some sort of special perk that she didn't know about.

Or maybe it was possible that Chandler couldn't stop thinking those words, just like Rachel was having trouble forgetting.

"Yeah." They stood there, hand in hand as they watched Monica's body slowly drift away from them. The late sunlight shone down on the river, giving Monica's face an ethereal glow. Rachel smiled at this. It seemed fitting.

They stood in silence for a long while; for as long as Monica's body was in view. When it disappeared out of their sight, they continued to stand in silence. Rachel glanced over at Chandler and saw the tears streaming down his cheeks; silent, but still painful. Rachel suddenly became aware of the wetness of her own cheeks, and it didn't surprise her one bit. She was still not feeling much besides the numbness that enveloped her, but she was still feeling a bit.

And a bit of this was still devastating.

"What now?" she whispered, finally breaking the silence. Chandler glanced over at her, and didn't say anything for a long time. Rachel stared back at him and saw the sudden transformation in his face. His eyes cleared slightly and his jaw set. Misery still lingered, heavy upon his shoulders, but there was something else there too. Determination. He seemed determined to fight.

Which is why his next words surprised her.

"What do you think we should do on our last night on Earth?"

"That doesn't seem very optimistic," Rachel murmured after a shocked silence. Chandler nodded, glancing down at the ground.

"I know…I'm sorry, but-"

"But what Chuck said?" Rachel interrupted. Chandler nodded once more.

"It seems hopeless Rach…it is hopeless…everybody is gone," Chandler sighed and averted his gaze to the darkening sky. "I…you can't say that you don't think it too?"

"I do Chandler…I know that it's hopeless…"

"Well, this is a depressing conversation," Chandler muttered after a beat. Rachel nodded, tightening her grip on his hand.

"You started it," she teased weakly. Chandler smirked slightly.

"Good point…so, I ask again, what should we do on our last night on Earth?"

I couldn't even begin to think of what we could do sweetie…there are so many things I wanted to do before I died."

"Time was never on our side," Chandler commented. Rachel nodded.

"Exactly…we could…I don't know…"

"Have some coffee?" Rachel let out a small laugh, shaking her head.

"Yeah, if we could find some," she muttered. Chandler smiled.

"We could go for a walk?"

"Okay." Both stood at the rivers edge for a moment longer, staring out at the water. Chandler shook his head slightly, then turned away, pulling Rachel along with him. They walked hand in hand, both silent for a while.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Chandler asked finally. Rachel glanced at him; at his sad face and smiled, stopping in her tracks.

"I don't really know _what _I'm thinking Chandler…I was just remembering I guess…remembering all the good times we had."

"And the bad."

"Even at its worst it was still good sweetie," Rachel whispered. A small smile covered Chandler's face. "I just wish…wish I could have gotten to say goodbye to…everyone."

"Yeah…me too."

"But, there is no such thing as a beautiful goodbye," Rachel continued. Chandler nodded.

"Not even between us?"

"I don't know…" Rachel trailed off, glancing away. They started walking once more, both silent again. "You seemed resigned to our fate," she spoke up.

"I'm not the type of person to go and cry in the corner…and…Ross said something about…never mind."

"What?"

"Well, it was in my dream…but he said see you soon…and I was just thinking that, well, we didn't necessarily have to say goodbye because…we are going to see them again…I hope. I don't know Rach; this whole 'afterlife' thing has never been my strong point."

"You think we are going to…see them in the afterlife?" Rachel whispered. Chandler shrugged.

"I sure as hell hope so…you seem pretty resigned to our fate as well."

"You shouldn't change the subject…but yeah, I guess I am…I was also thinking the same thing actually…"

"You were?" Chandler glanced at her, smiling slightly. Rachel smiled back and squeezed his hand.

"Yeah…I really have to believe that right now…otherwise I am just going to break down completely…and I don't want to be the person crying in the corner…especially if you are going to be avoiding it at all costs."

Chandler let out a small laugh.

"Yeah…good point."

"It's hard not to just break down though, isn't it?" Rachel whispered after a while. Chandler nodded.

"Yeah…but I've already done that enough today," he muttered. Rachel swallowed, leaning against his shoulder. A sudden thought occurred to her.

"How are you feeling? You're…injuries?"

"I can barely feel them anymore," Chandler whispered. Rachel frowned.

"I don't know if that is good or bad…but at least you aren't in pain."

"True."

There was another silence as they walked. The sun had almost set completely by the time Rachel spoke up again.

"Chandler?"

"Yeah?"

"What if…what if we get enslaved?" Chandler stopped in his tracks, then grabbed Rachel by the shoulders.

"That isn't going to happen Rach…we can't let that happen," he said firmly. Rachel nodded.

"But…but what if it happens? Or is going to happen? Or-"

"Rach, it won't happen. I won't let them take either of us."

"What are you going to do?" Rachel asked softly, staring into his eyes. Chandler blinked, glancing down at the ground.

"Whatever I have to…I guess." He sighed, letting his hands drop to his sides. Rachel nodded, understanding what he meant. She reached over and took his hand once more, then started to walk again. Chandler followed her, unable to do anything but.

"I was praying for you, you know," Rachel said quietly.

"You were?"

"Yeah…not just you; the other's as well. Praying that you would all be okay…but I was praying mostly for you…because you were the one that was hurt the most…but you turned out to be the last one left…I thought we were going to lose you…and I just knew that we were going to be so screwed, cause you were like our leader…and you were keeping our morale up. But, as it turns out, we are screwed anyway."

"And I'm not keeping the morale up, am I?" Rachel smiled at his words.

"What could you say? I think you are doing pretty good under the circumstances."

"Thanks…you too."

"You know, I haven't heard anything from the…alien's for a while," Rachel commented. Chandler nodded.

"Maybe they cleared out?"

As if they had been waiting for their names to be mentioned, footsteps started up to their right. Chandler and Rachel glanced at each other for a second, then both started to run.

"We spoke too soon I guess!" Rachel exclaimed as they ran.

"Yeah," Chandler gasped, stumbling slightly. Rachel tightened her grip on him, making sure he didn't fall.

"So, what's the plan?"

"I have no idea! Just run!"

They ran, neither wanting to stop. Neither wanting to be caught by the footsteps that were following them; growing faster and closer by the second.

They weren't going to be caught.


	15. Chapter 14

Well, here we are ladies and gents...this story is now over...sniff. My last chapter...there will be no more...and I am sad. But I must be strong! For I have other stories to work on hehe! Now I feel the need to tell you all something...this ending was actually the very first thing I wrote on this story! I got the idea from the words 'Where is his head?' but I wrote this before I wrote that chapter...so if anyone is annoyed at me for ending it like this and not going along with any of their suggestions, I just have to remind you that I have been commited to this ending for a month...nothing was going to sway me hehe.

I must thank everybody for their reviews...they have been great, if a little scary at times hehe. You guys certainly don't like me killing people! But thankyou everybody...and I just have to say to Taylor...I'm a bit upset that you finally got hooked on chapter 13...because I dont have much more for you to read! But oh well, I'm glad everybody enjoyed it, and I hope you all read my other stories too! Hell, anybody who hasnt might want to read Climbing the Walls...just a suggestion hehe.

So thanks, and I will see you kids in the movies! Peace out!

I do not own Friends/actors/characters, but I do own this story!

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His knees buckled.

Before Chandler could do anything to stop it, he went tumbling to the ground, his hand slipping out of Rachel's.

"Chandler!" she shrieked, reaching down and grabbing his hands. "Chandler, we have to keep going! They're getting closer!" She helped him to his feet, tightening her grip on his hand.

They ran; the footsteps growing closer and closer with each minute. Chandler knew it was hopeless. He also knew that he wouldn't last much longer. He was too hurt; losing too much blood. He could feel his life slipping away from him, but he knew he had to go on.

If they had a chance, they had to take it. Even though it seemed useless; even though it _was _useless, he wasn't ready to give up yet. He could barely keep his legs under him, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. He couldn't do that to Rachel; not unless every other option had been extinguished.

Chandler felt the gun digging into his back as he stumbled along; the gun that Rachel didn't know he possessed. He had realised; even when he was crying over Monica, he had known. Just before he had stood up after placing Monica in the lake, his hand had found the discarded gun that Rachel had fired at his fiancée. While Rachel was watching Monica, he had slipped it into his pants; knowing that he may need it.

Knowing that there was a possibility that they might get enslaved. Knowing that he would do anything to stop that from happening.

He had seen what had happened to Monica; to the person he loved more than anything else on this world. He had seen how she had been trapped, tortured and punished, and he knew that he wouldn't let neither he nor Rachel suffer through that.

Chandler felt the gun digging into his back as he stumbled along, and he was glad it was there.

"Rach," he gasped, spots dancing in front of him. The footsteps grew closer.

"We have to keep going Chandler," Rachel insisted, pulling on his hand. Chandler stumbled once more and nearly fell to the ground.

"I…I don't know if…" his knees buckled once more and Chandler found himself on the ground again. This time Rachel didn't shriek his name. Chandler felt her standing over him, heard the sob escape from her mouth. Felt her hands wrap around his wrists. Felt the dirt and rocks beneath him as she started to drag him.

Chandler wanted to say something; wanted to tell her to leave him, but he found he couldn't. Not because he was too exhausted, but because he was too selfish. He didn't want Rachel to leave him. He didn't want to die alone. So, in a way, he was glad she was dragging him, although he wasn't sure what use it was. The footsteps were closer then ever, and Chandler suddenly realised that they were surrounded. The footsteps were closing in on them from all angles. Even if he wasn't selfish and had told Rachel to run, she wouldn't have made it far. It was better that she stay with him; better that she be with him until the end. No one should die on their lonesome.

The dragging stopped and Chandler heard Rachel sitting down next to him. There was a silence.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, tears filling his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I…I'm…I hurt so much."

"You don't have to explain yourself Chandler…I knew you were hurt…I know that you should be in a hospital at the moment," Rachel soothed, running her hands gently through his dirty hair. Chandler felt something wet fall on his cheek and realised that she was crying. He sighed and started to push himself up.

"What are you doing?"

"I am not going to just lay here…I'm feeling much better." It was a lie, but Chandler felt that he could move once more. He had enjoyed a little rest, and now he had things to do.

"Liar," Rachel whispered, helping him sit up. For the first time since he had collapsed, Chandler took a look around. They were well hidden, and Chandler felt a sense of pride wash over him, knowing that Rachel had done well. They wouldn't be found for a while. That gave them enough time. Time to have their beautiful goodbye. Or at the very least, a bittersweet one.

"You caught me," Chandler joked, glancing at her. Rachel smiled, leaning her head against his.

"This isn't how I imagined this Chandler," she murmured. Chandler nodded, clasping her hand gently.

"I know Rach…I know."

"They will be here soon."

"Yeah…"

There was a short silence, neither wanting to say it. Neither wanting to admit what they both knew was coming.

"What happens now?" Rachel whispered finally, even though she already knew.

"Now…now we go find Mon. And Joey. And Ross and Phoebe," Chandler answered softly. Rachel swallowed and nodded.

"And then we can say goodbye to them?"

Chandler shook his head, a small smile spreading across his face.

"No…we can say hello to them."

"I like the sound of that…so, really, we don't need our beautiful goodbye here either, do we?"

"No…but it would be nice though," Chandler said looking at her. Rachel nodded.

"I love you Chandler," she said after a beat.

"I know…I love you too Rach."

"…not in that way though," she added a moment later. Chandler smiled, kissing her forehead in the dark.

"I know that too," he whispered. Rachel shuddered, hearing the footsteps come closer. The odd, unnatural footsteps that surrounded them.

"I'm scared Chandler," she whimpered.

"I know…but we wont be for much longer," Chandler said softly, his voice weak from his injuries. Rachel trembled again, her breath coming out in short gasps. She pressed her body closer still to Chandler's broken one, listening to the footsteps come closer still, accompanied by an odd chattering noise. They were speaking to each other, she realised. Among the chattering, she could make out human voices. People who had been enslaved.

"Oh god," she whimpered. "Chandler…"

"It's nearly over Rach," he whispered. "Just close your eyes."

"Something new and different huh?" she gasped, staring into Chandler's blue eyes through the darkness. He smiled shakily.

"You know it." Rachel let out a short laugh, burying her face into Chandler's injured shoulder. He flinched and then moved. Rachel knew that he was reaching behind him and suddenly realised what he was reaching for.

"Chandler," she whimpered as the footsteps grew even closer. Chandler tensed and Rachel let out a terrified cry, knowing that the aliens were within their view.

"Eyes closed," Chandler reminded her. Rachel nodded, gasping slightly. She didn't close her eyes though; not yet. Instead she chose to keep them buried in Chandler's shoulder. Chandler kissed her forehead again. "Just keep them closed."

"Always," Rachel whispered, knowing that word would be her last. She knew that the footsteps were so close now, and that they couldn't be enslaved. She knew that Chandler; injured, bleeding Chandler was going to do what he had to. Going to do what they needed to do to keep from getting enslaved. Selfishly she was glad that he was the one to do it. She would never have been able to, but Chandler had always been stronger then her. She listened to his heart beating in her ear, relishing in the sound of life for a short moment. Chandler alive was a wonderful thing, but something that couldn't last. That the beating of his heart was going to end, but not before hers.

She moved away slightly, giving Chandler a bit of room. She knew that they were going to die then. Knew that the sob that Chandler had just emitted would be the last thing she heard. Knew that the fresh wind against her skin was going to be the last thing she felt. That and the cool barrel of the gun.

She knew that the breath she was taking would be her last.

She knew that she would be seeing her friend's soon, and that she would be happy.

Rachel finished taking her breath, savouring the feeling. It was something she would never feel again.

She closed her eyes.


End file.
